CCU President Emeritus Ronald R. Ingle, left, and H. Neyle Wilson, president of Horry Georgetown Technical College, present four scholarships to the Wilson family.

Judy Vogt, right, CCU Vice President of Enrollment Services, presents scholarships to R.J. Pearl, 7, and Erica Smalls, 5, as grandmother Renée Wilson looks on.

Hakeem Pearl, 10, and Timothy Pearl, 8, show off their Coastal Carolina University scholarships at a press conference.

Football coach David Bennett worked alongside his players.

by Mona Prufer

Coaching isn't always about how to throw a ball and block opponents, just like building a house isn't always about brick and mortar. Sometimes it's about how to play well with others and, in the broader sense, giving service to the "team" that is community.

Just ask Football Coach David Bennett and his Chanticleers who this spring helped ABC's popular "Extreme Makeover" crew build a 3,400 square foot house for a woman in Longs who had been raising her four grandchildren in a trailer patched with duct tape.

"Those people on that show," says Bennett, referring to Ty Pennington and the designers who get the most air time. "They're just actors. But the people in the community who volunteered their time and talents to help build that house, they're the real heroes."

The Chants spent hours in the freezing cold and rain in the Popular community outside Conway, picking up trash behind the builders, refueling heaters and moving heavy things. "We asked for the worst jobs," says Bennett, who for a week worked side-by-side with student athletes required to engage in five community projects during the year.

"When these guys come to college, their attitude is 'what's in it for me?' Our job as coaches is to break them of that," says Bennett. "We try to get them to learn about putting God and family first in life and education in the classroom and community second. That's what we're working on here."

In addition to manual labor, Coastal and Horry Georgetown Technical College also donated full scholarships to the four young grandchildren of Renée Wilson. Then-CCU President Ronald R. Ingle and HGTC President H. Neyle Wilson huddled in a chilly tent to present the framed certificates to the family even though they were nowhere in sight because the film crew had them inside the house shooting footage of the new digs.

After the college presidents had departed, grandmother Wilson clutched the framed certificates for television crews thrusting microphones in her face as the excited children dashed about, riding new bicycles and shooting hoops in their new backyard. She talked about the importance of education and how grateful she was that the future was taken care of for her grandchildren, including one little boy whose face lit up when he saw shelves and bookcases full of books in his new room. "I've got my own books!" he said, "I like to read and learn new things."

The five-bedroom home built by the community for the Wilson family