Dau Jok's incredible story

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Most Penn basketball fans know freshman guard Dau Jok as the kid with the big smile, always one of the first off the bench to dole out high-fives to his teammates. But what most don't know is the heartbreaking and incredible backstory to his life. Jok moved to Des Moines, Iowa in 2003 to get away from the dangers of his homeland Sudan, where his father, Dut, was killed when Dau was just six.  But now at Penn, Jok has been honored with the Davis Projects for Peace Award for his role in founding the Dut Jok Youth Foundation back in the Sudan, aimed at helping kids find outlets away from violence. The DP's print edition ran a profile on him entitled "Dreams from his father," and I'll leave it to the author Seth Zweifler to capture just how important Dau's role is off the court:

"Today, however, the boy who once knew nothing but violence is working to become a man who will bring peace to his home of Southern Sudan, which has suffered decades of civil war."

For two must-read pieces on Dau, check out the DP's and Philly.com's profiles.