Ninth International Conference on Sport & Society

Abstract

“Perhaps nowhere in higher education is the disenfranchisement of Black male students more insidious than in college athletics” (Harper, 2016). Black male athletes remain overrepresented on revenue-generating sports teams yet their graduation rates continue to lag behind other student-athletes, Black undergraduate men and undergraduate students overall (Harper, 2016). Moreover, because Black male athletes are more likely to view college as a means to an unlikely end – going pro – they are less likely to focus on academics and career preparation post-graduation (Lebowitz, 2015). With less than two percent of athletes being drafted by the NFL or NBA, 98% of football and basketball players, most of whom are Black, must pursue careers outside of professional sports. Using a two-generation approach, both player and parents can be educated equally and intentionally in developing best practices for success to win in the classroom and develop career aspirations beyond sports. By engaging the entire family, parents become the primary social agents for conveying to their sons that college is the most reliable pathway to upward mobility. This approach equips players and parents with the early skills needed to develop high-performance habits to excel in college, career and life; thus improving outcomes for Black male athletes.