The high school basketball team for the Gainesville Tornadoes in Gainesville, Texas usually has a fan base of zero. One Gainesville player said, "My parents came to one game but they didn't come to the other ones because they didn't have time." The other students at Gainesville—a juvenile correction facility for felony offenders—don't come to the games either, mostly because they can't get out. One of the few perks at the facility—for very good behavior—is a chance to leave the prison a few times a year to play basketball.

They play against private schools like Vanguard College Prep in Waco. And it was before that recent match-up that two Vanguard players—Hudson Bradley and Ben Martinson—announced they it didn't seem right to play a team with no fans. So before their home game against Gainesville, Bradley and Martinson asked some Vanguard fans for a favor: To cheer for Gainesville instead.

The shocked Gainesville players walked onto the court to find their own signs of support, their own cheerleaders, even their own fan section. Half the crowd was assigned to cheer for Gainesville. But as the game went on, everybody started to cheer for Gainesville. One Gainesville player said, "When I'm an old man I'll still be thinking about this." Hudson Bradley said, "I mean every time they scored the gym was just lit up with cheering and clapping and everyone was on their feet. It showed me the real impact that encouragement and support for anybody can make."

Here's how journalist Steve Hartman summarized this story: "We all need someone to believe in us. We all need someone who knows our mistakes and loves us anyway. And for that, the Gainesville players can't thank those boys enough."