SERVING SOUTH CAROLINA SINCE OCTOBER 15, 1894
APRIL / MAY 2024 1 SECTION, 40 PAGES | VOL. 1, NO. 2
Diamond-Stackz Classic Organization grows far beyond basketball
Group marks 1st decade helping area’s youth BY TIM LEIBLE tim@theitem.com
W
hen Sterling Ta'bon and his
3 places your tastebuds don’t want to miss downtown
friends hosted
their first Diamond-Stackz Classic basketball tournament in 2015, they were just looking for a way to cele-
A28
brate their friend Erick
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ABOVE: Travon Armstrong leads a lesson during a Diamond-Stackz Classic live session on Wednesday, April 3. LEFT: Sterling Ta’bon, left, and Travon Armstrong, back center, have built the Diamond-Stackz Classic Organization to grow far beyond the basketball tournament they started in 2015 to remember their friend, Erick White. PHOTOS BY ADAM FLASH / THE SUMTER ITEM
Here
Happily Ever After Starts
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White, who passed away not long after graduating from Sumter High School. Ta'bon had no idea just how far that basketball tournament would take them. A decade later, the Diamond-Stackz Classic Organization represents much more than a basketball tournament, but their lost friend is still very much in the forefront. The program has blossomed into a home for youth looking to grow
SEE DECADE, PAGE A18