Living Through the Hoop: High School Basketball, Race, and
ISBN: , SKU: , AUTHOR: May, Reuben A. Buong>forong>d, PUBLISHER: New York University Press, Visit the author's YouTube channel When ong>highong> ong>schoolong> basketball player LeBron James was selected as the top pick in the National Basketball Association draft of , the hopes of a half-million ong>highong> ong>schoolong> basketball players soared. If LeBron could go straight from ong>highong> ong>schoolong> to the NBA, why couldn't they? Such is the allure of basketball ong>forong> so many young African American men. Unong>forong>tunately, the reality is that their chances of ever playing basketball at the professional, or even college, level are infinitesimal. In Living Through the Hoop, Reuben A. Buong>forong>d May tells the absorbing story of the hopes and struggles of one ong>highong> ong>schoolong> basketball team. With a clear passion ong>forong> the game, May grabs readers with both hands and pulls them onto the hardwood, going under the hoop and inside the locker room. May spent seven seasons as an assistant coach of the Northeast ong>Highong> ong>Schoolong> Knights in Northeast, Georgia. We meet players like Larique and Pooty Cat, hard-working and energetic young men, willing to play and practice basketball seven days a week and banking on the unlimited promise of the game. And we meet Coach Benson, their unorthodox, out-spoken, and fierce leader, who regularly coached them to winning seasons, twice going to the state tournaments Elite Eight championships. Beyond the wins and losses, May provides a portrait of the players' hopes and aspirations, their home lives, and the difficulties they face in living in a poor and urban area -- namely, the temptations of drugs and alcohol, violence in their communities, run-ins with the police, and unstable family lives. We learn what it means to become a man when you live in places that define manhood by how tough you can be, how many women you can have, and how much money you can hustle. May shows the powerful role that the basketball team can play in keeping these kids straight, away from street-life, focused on completing ong>highong> ong>schoolong>, and possibly even attending college. Their stories, and the double-edged sword of hoop dreams, is at the heart of this compelling story about young African American men's struggle to find their way in an often grim world.