Former Raptor Pascal Siakam awarded honourary degree from UNB for education work

More than 30 middle school-aged kids sat on wooden benches inside a gym in Gagetown, a tiny New Brunswick village about 60 kilometres away from the capital city of Fredericton.

They gathered to present their work analyzing basketball statistics and learning about the world of data science in the process.

What they didn't know is that NBA star Pascal Siakam would be joining them in the gym, sporting an "Education is Freedom" t-shirt and ready to listen to what they'd learned about how to use open data.

The students were part of the Indiana Pacers forward's Data Dunkers program, a partnership between his PS43 Foundation and Dell Technologies that sees Grade 5 to 12 students learn about data analysis through basketball.

His appearance — a real-life pro basketball player, and part of one of Canada's great sporting moments with the 2019 championship Toronto Raptors team — left many of the kids star-struck.

"It's turned into one of the best days of my life," 11-year-old Acacia Mallery, a big Toronto Raptors fan, said about her second day of Grade 6.

WATCH | How NBA star Pascal Siakam wants to inspire New Brunswick youth:

NBA star surprises New Brunswick students

Later that day, Siakam received an honourary degree from the University of New Brunswick, where his foundation has sponsored scholarships for students from Siakam's home country, Cameroon, to study at the province's largest university.

"[Honorary degrees] recognize leadership," Paul Mazerolle, UNB president's and vice-chancellor, said. "They recognize special people doing special things. He fits that bill for us."

But a few hours before he received the honour on Wednesday, Siakam could hear his late father's voice in his head.

"Obviously he loved basketball and