AUBURNDALE – With the 2025-26 season set to start later this month, Polk State Basketball players are hoping for a memorable season. A trio of players, however, hope their recent community efforts make memories for local youngsters.

On Oct. 9, guards Marques DaSilva-Romeo and Moises Valdez and center Harold Lee spent the day at Clarence Boswell Elementary School in Auburndale. During their visit, the three Polk State players read to and engaged with fourth-grade students.

"The staff was very welcoming," Valdez said. "It was cool to be able to relate to the kids. I remember being in their situation and having people come in to talk to and try to motivate us."

Entering his ninth season at the helm, Head Coach Brandon Giles, a Polk County native, has stressed the importance of being active in the community to his players. In July, Polk State players served as volunteer coaches for the annual Brandon Giles Skills Camp.

"While they're a part of our program, this is their community," Giles explained. "When college basketball players come to their classrooms, it's exciting for the kids, but it's also humbling for our players. They start to understand the impact they can make."

A native of Orlando, Valdez has taken a liking to Polk County's more intimate feel.

"This is an open community," Valdez reflected. "When you walk into a business here, the owner is often working. It's neat to talk to people with roots here."

Lee and DaSilva-Romeo are both relatively new to Central Florida. Redshirted at Polk State last season, Lee is a native of Nigeria. DaSilva-Romeo arrived in August from Ontario, Canada.

"The students were really excited to see us," DaSilva-Romeo said of the experience. "A lot of them remembered Coach Giles from last year. We're students like they are, we play basketball and a lot of them seemed interested in that."

During their visit, the players learned of some of the students' hardships. Valdez and DaSilva-Romeo called it a humbling experience.

"As basketball players, maybe they look up to us," Valdez explained. "There were some troubled kids in the group. It was great to be there for them and to be someone they can lean on."

"This was my first time ever doing something like this," DaSilva-Romeo added. "It was a new experience for me, but it was very eye-opening. For them to have the opportunity to talk to an older figure and to be that figure was pretty cool."

With seven exhibition games already under its belt, Polk State Basketball is slated to open the season on Oct. 31 in Daytona Beach against Wake Technical College. As Polk State Baseball wraps up its fall schedule, Head Coach Al Corbeil and players are also scheduled to visit local schools this fall.

"As Polk County's largest-serving institution of higher learning, it's important for us to be visible in the community," Director of Athletics Randy Lee said. "Whether you want to be or not, when you put on a jersey, you become a role model for our local youth. It's excellent to have student-athletes and coaches who understand and embrace that."