Derrick Rose was born Oct. 4, 1988, in Chicago. He grew up in the Englewood neighborhood in southwest Chicago. Rose attended Simeon Career Academy, where he led the team to back-to-back state championships. Following his graduation in 2007 he was named Illinois’ Mr. Basketball, selected to play for Team USA and played for the West team in the McDonald’s All-American Game.

Rose eventually chose to play college basketball at the University of Memphis, and during his first season (’07-’08) Rose and the Tigers earned the No. 1 seed heading into the NCAA tournament, but ultimately lost in the championship game to the University of Kentucky.

Declaring for the NBA draft after just one college season, Rose was drafted first overall in the 2008 NBA draft by the Chicago Bulls. His NBA career started on a high note when he received rookie of the year honors in 2009. The following year the Chicago Bulls finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA and Rose received the MVP award, the youngest player ever to win it. The Bulls have had tremendous success since drafting Rose, but his career has been plagued with injuries due to ACL tears in both of his knees over the past two seasons.

On Sept. 23, 2014, Rose announced he is making a $1 million donation to the Chicago-based non-profit After School Matters. The organization currently serves about 15,000 at-risk Chicago teenagers. They set up a number of programs throughout the city for teens to partake in after school. Programs include the arts, communications, science, sports and technology.

Learn more:
Derrick Rose Official Website
Derrick Rose NBA Bio