With his story still playing in movie theaters across the country, Coach Ken Carter brought his inspirational message to U-M-Flint.
While Samuel L. Jackson portrays “Coach Carter” in the movie, nearly a 1,000 students from Flint area schools packed into the Recreation Center on campus Feb. 10 to hear what the real coach had to say.
In 1999, Carter turned a struggling boys’ basketball team at Richmond High School, in Richmond, Calif., into All-Star contenders on the court and in the classroom. Each player and his parents signed a contract agreeing to abide by rules of conduct and to maintain a minimum of a 2.3 GPA. When not all of the players lived up to these obligations, they were locked out of the gym and pulled from any basketball-related activities to learn how to “rise as a team.” Academically solid players tutored weaker ones, and the whole team improved their GPAs.
Carter also was a guest speaker at a scholarship reception held that same evening at U-M-Flint’s Northbank Center.
In addition to coaching The Rumble, a championship SlamBall team, Carter owns Prime Time Publishing and Prime Time Sports. He also is an author and the founder and chairman of the Coach Ken Carter Foundation, a non-profit organization, which develops, promotes and provides education, training and mentoring programs for minority youths.
