DENHAM SPRINGS - Tasmin Mitchell has cemented his legacy in the LSU record books, but it all started when Mitchell was a star basketball player at Denham Springs High School.

To Mitchell, he got more than an education and basketball opportunities, but valuable life experiences he carries with him to this day.

"Denham Springs taught me a lot. My principal, he taught me how to tie a tie. You know, so it was life values that I learned off the court throughout my career and my time at Denham Springs. They didn't only talk to me about basketball. They talked to me about my education, about 'What are you going to do after you finish playing basketball? The ball will stop bouncing,'" Mitchell said.

Mitchell made his name even more well known when he helped lead LSU men's basketball to the Final Four in 2006. He went on to play professional basketball overseas, but that career came to a halt when the floods of 2016 devastated his hometown of Denham Springs. 

"You know, I was planning to go back over and play ball, but I decided I can't go back over there. It was devastating, so I decided to stay home and be with my family. We just gonna go through it together, you know. We all packed in my grandmother's house and we all stayed there. Everybody was dispersed. It was eye opening to appreciate things that money can't buy you," Mitchell said.

Since his return to Louisiana, Mitchell took a job within the same program he played for as a student-athlete. Now, almost a decade later, he is an assistant coach and director of player personnel. He wanted to give back to young athletes, the same thing that others did for him years ago.