Back to the Detroit Pistons Newsfeed

Darvin Ham returns home with college message, helps fulfill Saginaw Promise

SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, MI -- College may have turned Darvin Ham from a backup on the Saginaw High basketball team to an NBA champion.

But for Ham, 43, college did more than just change his approach on the court. It changed his approach off the court.

"It totally changed me, totally changed my life," Ham said. "It matured me. It forced me to interact and work with people who didn't look like me. It taught me not to focus on what a person looks like, but what kind of soul they had."

Ham, an eight-year NBA veteran, returned to Saginaw as the featured speaker at the Saginaw Promise annual fundraiser, held Wednesday at Horizons Conference Center.