"You can dream, you can dream dreams, who knows maybe you guys can dawn one of these uniforms some day," coach Mike Anderson said.

The Missouri Tigers looked to help fulfill those dreams as they hosted a free basketball clinic for kids at Douglass Park. The tigers worked with the kids on everything from shooting, to defense, to ball handling.

"We're a part of the community and I think it's a way of our guys and our staff of giving back to our community with our youth and get them a chance to see these guys in a different light," said Anderson.

"They see some young men that have been successful and they're going to college. They are getting their education, which is more important than sports, but they are contributing back to the community," parent James Whitt said.

The kids can learn a lot about fundamentals from the Missouri Tigers, they can also learn a lot more, about life

"It gives these guys inspiration, 'cause again our guys were in this position at some point in time. And for our guys to come out and to share their testimony with the kids, like a guy like Zaire Taylor from New York, the streets of Staten Island. And all of a sudden he's playing in a major program in the Elite Eight on national TV If it can happen for him, as he talked to the kids about, it can happen for anyone," said Anderson.

"At one point I was them just growing up. I grew up in an urban environment in New York and I grew up on the same concrete courts and this is what it's about. It's about giving back," Zaire Taylor said.

While the Tigers taught the kids, the kids also taught the Tigers

"College sports gets, sometimes you get caught up in the business and you lose the concept that's it's still a game. I mean like 'Spoon and them were playing football in the rain and that should take them back to when they were nine years old. I mean it shows us the less serious side of things. Everything's so concrete. You got to win this game, you got to beat them, and its basketball. It's just the same game that you started playing on the asphalt hoops," Missouri guard Kim English said.

To get from the asphalt of city parks to the hard courts of college hoops.

"Keep dreaming. Keep pushing yourself, working hard. Take school serious. Eventually, I mean who knows, you all might be able to play for the Missouri Tigers," Missouri forward Laurence Bowers said.

The Tigers open the season on November 17 against Tennessee Martin.