Basketball is the only bright spot in the impoverished and dilapadated city of Cairo, Illinois.

CAIRO, IL - APRIL 5, 2018 A poster Demarius "Paypay" Taylor, 18, hangs in the the high school gym in Cairo, Illinois on April 5, 2018. Taylor is the best player on the lone bright spot for impoverished Cairo: the high school basketball team. He earned his nickname, "Paypay," from winning dice games at the McBride project, where he grew up. He recently received a basketball scholarship to Lincoln College, a small school in central Illinois. Cairo is a town rich in history but is now on a rapid decline brought on by a housing crisis and economic misfortune. Once a candidate to be the state capital, Cairo is now in danger of disappearing altogether. (Photo by Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post via Getty Images)