First-of-its-kind Arizona program pairs Phoenix Mercury with incarcerated women

GOODYEAR, AZ (AZFamily) — Thirteen inmates at Perryville Prison graduated Monday from a first-of-its-kind basketball rehabilitation program in Arizona, the result of a partnership between the Phoenix Mercury and the Twinning Project.

The Twinning Project pairs professional sports teams with prisons. Over the past six weeks, participants traded their prison uniforms for purple jerseys and new shoes every Monday as part of the program, which was a year in the making.

Mercury scout Charli Turner Thorne coached the inmates throughout the program. She said the curriculum went beyond basketball fundamentals.

“Winning strategies for life so that when they get out, they can continue to make a difference and be successful,” Thorne said.

Thorne said the team learned life skills they can apply after their release from prison.

Participant Bobbijean Jackson said putting on a jersey had an immediate effect on her outlook.

“When we went into the room and changed, I said ‘OK, I feel like I’m in the real world now,’ and I was giving everyone high fives,” Jackson said.

Participant Desiree Kimbrough said the program helped her work through the mental weight of incarceration.

“They taught us how to let go of a negative mindset. I was beating myself up about being incarcerated. They just taught me how to heal,” Kimbrough said.

Thorne said Mercury staff plan to continue checking in on the women after their release. She said she hopes to continue the program but noted that securing funding remains a necessary next step.

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