Andre Agassi took the stage to accept the honor of Great Sports Legend at the 23rd Annual Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis dinner, and filled us in on just what he’s been up to out in Nevada since his retirement from pro tennis. After seeing a video of his earlier days of playing, when he sported a very 80’s hair-do, Agassi remarked, “I enjoyed seeing all of that, except for the hair.” He went on to talk about how the two Buoniconti men, Nick and son Marc, are “raising the funds necessary to create this miracle in the making,” before telling them they could “count on me moving forward, any way I can help.”

Besides his commitment to joining the Buoniconti’s in the their quest for a cure, Agassi chose to devote himself to education, believing that “the earlier we interrupt the downward spiral and give the tools we hope, the more profoundly we can change the course of a life and my first step in doing that was building a charter school in an inner city…of Las Vegas.” Not only did he start the school, and countless after-school centers, but his school was deemed exemplary and nationally acknowledged. Agassi’s experience in charity work has taught him “what the human spirit can do when people come together.” And surrounded by so many people that night, all wanting to help out, he became “convinced tonight that we have the resolve to defeat any hardship, to outlast any hardship, to outsmart any hardship.” Glad to hear that since his tearful retirement, Agassi has done nothing but action.