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Pueblo High School basketball legend Lafayette “Fat” Lever presented to the boys and girls teams at his alma mater this week Aaron Gordon 361 Sport Official shoes, a continuous effort by him to give back to the community.
Lever, 65, has a history of giving when returning to his roots, where he gained fame leading Pueblo to consecutive state championships in 1976-77 and 1977-78 under the late Roland LaVetter.
“Pueblo Gardens, Western Hills, South Park — that’s home,” said Lever of the communities on the southside of Tucson where he was raised in a 2020 interview with AllSportsTucson.com.
“That’s why when people call me to do something in Tucson, I’m always there. I am back periodically, and when I am back, I usually stop by Pueblo to see what’s going on there. I’m also a Boys & Girls Club kid off Sixth Street. I grew up there. … If I’m not back two to three times a month during the off-season, that’s unusual.”
Lever and Pueblo Class of 2026 standout America Cazares, who broke the state’s career scoring record this season, also exchanged player cards with autographs.
Lever went on to star at Arizona State and then with the Denver Nuggets after his stellar Pueblo career.
Lever did not wear elaborate basketball shoes or leave Pueblo with a star rating from a recruiting Web site. The Internet did not exist back then, nor did cable TV.
Lever compared his humble upbringing with the other legendary basketball player in Tucson history — Sean Elliott, who was also raised in a low-economic area on the city’s westside while attending Cholla High School.
“We grew up in areas that weren’t very popular and we worked on it,” Lever said. “I played with and against some of Sean’s family members growing up and so did my older brother. We had a history before we played in high school.
“We didn’t have the resources kids have now, but back then, you didn’t think of it. My resource growing up was the Boys & Girls Club. That’s just the growth process of our society and our environment at the time. It changes all of the time.”
Lever has participated many times with community projects, including at the Boys & Girls Club of Tucson.
“Tucson impacted my development a tremendous amount,” he said. “You felt like everyone knew you. I had those same feelings with my teammates in Tucson, growing up with those guys at the Boys & Girls Club. Raised in Western Hills, Pueblo Gardens and South Park, that total upbringing gave me that comfort zone of knowing that I had support.”
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