The University of Detroit Mercy served as the host for this year's Men's Final Four.

I had a chance to interview Detroit Local Organizing Committee Chair and University of Detroit Mercy Athletics Director Keri Gaither before Monday night's national championship game. Gaither talked about Detroit's involvement in community outreach programs, the NCAA Legacy Program and student-athlete involvement at the Final Four.

Watch the interview:

I met a number of Detroit student-athletes and coaches at the Final Four. Here are just a few of the events they participated in:

Detroit basketball coaches Ray McCallum and Autumn Rademacher brought their teams to the NCAA Youth Education through Sports (YES) Clinics. The event brought college coaches and student-athletes together with boys and girls from the area to teach life skills and basketball fundamentals.

Listen to Coach McCallum talk about the benefits of the YES Clinics.

Along with Detroit faculty, alumni and students, members of the tennis, golf, soccer and softball teams volunteered as instructors at the NCAA Campus Sports Zones inside Hoop City.

The Detroit pep band attended the Men's Final Four Salute Presentation, and played the fight songs of the four schools when the teams were introduced.

The school's strength and conditioning staff volunteered during the Final Four Dribble. Participants had a chance to meet members of the men's and women's basketball teams, cheer team, pep band and the mascot, Tommy Titan.

At the 2nd annual Sports Career and College Expo, Detroit student-athletes spoke about their experiences in college athletics and how being a student-athlete is preparing them for their future careers.

In March, Detroit student-athletes helped open the first of four early learning centers in Detroit. The centers are funded by a $250,000 donation from the Detroit Local Organizing Committee and the NCAA to help children in Southeastern Michigan enter school ready to learn by improving the quality of early care and education for pre-school age children throughout the region.

University of Detroit Mercy's College of Liberal Arts & Education and UDM's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will work with United Way for Southeastern Michigan for the next five years on the legacy initiative.

Thanks again to everyone at Detroit for a being a great host for the 2009 Men's NCAA Final Four.