When Tarence Wheeler speaks of his community service in Detroit, there is such fervor, conviction and logic in his voice that in the moment you hang up the phone, you feel compelled to stand up and act.
"He's a great speaker," said Wheeler's former Sun Devil basketball teammate, Isaac Austin, laughing, "He's very knowledgeable and very passionate, but what he's saying is real. His knowledge comes from his past. Those experiences made him who he is and helped him move forward."
Wheeler's past is an all-too-familiar tale in disadvantaged American families. His mother was addicted to drugs; his father was absent from his life in southwest Detroit.