Movie Summary
Ken Carter, a successful sporting goods
store owner, receives the job of basketball coach for his old high school in a
poor area of Richmond, CA, where he was a champion athlete. As much as he was discouraged
by the poor attitudes of his players as well as their miserable play
performance, Carter tries his best to change both. He immediately enforces a
strict written contract that include conditions for respectful behavior, a
dress code and good grades as requisites to being allowed to participate. The
initial struggle from the boys is soon dismissed as the team under Carter's guidance
becomes an undefeated team. However, when the overconfident team's behavior goes
back to how it started, Carter learns that too many players are doing poorly in
class, he takes immediate action. To the outrage of the team, the school and
the community, Carter cancels all team activities and locks the court until the
team shows acceptable academic improvement meeting the requirements of his
contract. In the resulting debate, Carter fights to keep his methods,
determined to show the boys that they need to rely on more than sports for
their futures and eventually finds he has affected them more intensely than he
ever expected. This movie emphasis that education is more important than athletics. Yes you may get some where with athletics but if you get an education you can go as far as you want.