• NBA Bear’s book club builds community online and in-person

    Ekpe Udoh

    If you watched NBA games in the 1990s or early in the millennium, you couldn’t miss the old PSAs featuring NBA stars like Shaquille O’Neal and Reggie Miller encouraging young basketball fans to read, all with the tagline, “Reading is Fundamental.”

    Had former Baylor star and current Los Angeles Clipper forward Ekpe Udoh, BSEd ’11, played in that era, he’d have been a perfect fit for those ads. Because when it comes to reading, Udoh isn’t just saying a tagline — he’s built an online community dedicated to reading, known as Ekpe’s Book Club, the only one of its kind in sports.

    Udoh, who confesses to becoming a recent bibliophile, says the Twitter-based book club started as “just something I wanted to do” at the beginning of last season when he played for the Milwaukee Bucks. He asked his Twitter followers to sign up and then personally sent out books to members, setting times for them to discuss their insights on the books via Twitter. Each week (scheduled during the season, of course, around Udoh’s games), the community comes together on Twitter for a lively discussion, with the number of readers and complexity of the discussions exceeding even Udoh’s expectations.

    This summer, Ekpe’s Book Club took on a new dimension, leaving the anonymity of the Internet for an in-person book club meeting. Udoh generously paid the way for more than 20 people (including six who flew) to come to Dallas where he was training to discuss the book The Fault In Our Stars, eat and fellowship and watch the movie in person. (You can get a first-hand look at the experience in blog posts from Baylor alum Natalie Tate, BA ’05, and basketball blogger Jack Maloney.)

    Media attention as Ekpe’s Book Club (search #EkpesBookClub on Twitter) has grown along with the group; after all, an NBA star who jokes, “I’m coming after Miss Oprah Winfrey” when it comes to reading does stand out. With such growth has come a website and nationwide interest.

    “Social media is amazing if you use it for the right things,” Udoh says. “Book club has been nothing but positive.”

    Sic ’em, Ekpe!