Somewhere in the midst of signing autographs, Fred VanVleet considered the power of setting a good example.
Basketball mattered, of course, as the vehicle to grab attention. Staying in school, staying out of trouble, avoiding the life-sapping issues of crime, drugs and poverty in Rockford, Ill., mattered more.
VanVleet set out to be a role model by working, by fighting the perception that kids from Rockford failed and by telling them in his quiet, firm manner how to accomplish their goals.
“The power is really in your hands,” he said when he spoke at Auburn High’s graduation in 2014.