ORLANDO, Fla. — Maya Angelou once said, if you’re going to live, leave a legacy. Make a mark on the world that can’t be erased.

That is how former Orlando Christian Prep basketball star Dmitri Thompson lived his life. Earlier this month, Dmitri died unexpectedly at the age of 27.

"My brother was truly special," said Dmitri's brother, Dwight Thompson.

Dmitri graduated from Orlando Christian Prep in 2014, winning a state title in his senior year. He would go on to play at Elon University and professionally for two years in Europe but felt the need to come back home.

"He said I don’t want to go, I don’t want to go back, I want to be around family, loved ones, I want to be able to build what we wanted to build within our community," said Dwight.

So in 2019, Dmitri with his brother Dwight founded Rise League. It started out as a league that provided opportunities to kids from their community to train and practice basketball. It was a dream for them to build something like this since they were in middle school. We first met Dmitri and Dwight in 2020 when they were just getting started.

"The Rise League was created to serve the community, just in our neighborhood that was the original plan just to serve the kids that grow up where we grew up, but Dmitri’s impact was so much bigger," said Dwight.

From there, the league grew. Kids from all across Central Florida and different states reached out to be part of the league. Shortly thereafter they started a business program to teach kids financial literacy and how to build a business.

"He truly cared about doing what he loved and that passion and that spirit resonates with everyone," said Dwight.

Hundreds gathered on Saturday to remember the impact Dmitri had on their and other lives. And also serve as a reminder that he made is mark in this world, his legacy will live on.

"In these tough times, we always think that his life was too short, to me Dmitri lived a lifetime of 10 different people," said Dwight. "I can truly say Dmitri lived a happy life with no regrets and he was able to inspire so many people."