“Every basketball player wants to be the Big Man on Campus and score a lot of points. But my question always is: ‘Okay, so how do you plan to do it?’ What I have found out is that everyone knows what he or she wants to do in life; the problem is finding out how to do it.
I broke a scoring record at every level I competed. At my high school, I hold the single season record, and at the University of North Florida, I am the all-time leading scorer. Though people always asked the key to my success, I never shared it, until now…
What you will learn after reading this book is how to score with your mind and not just your feet… Now I get to become your coach as I share with you what it takes to win and score points on and off the court. Turn the page and get ready to see basketball in a whole new light.
Excerpted from the Introduction (pages ix-x)
For generations, it has always been a little mind-boggling how many African-American boys say they plan to be pro basketball players when they grow up. Generally, to the detriment of no one but themselves, they tend to underachieve in school because of an emphasis on athletics over academics during their dogged pursuit of that elusive dream.
Unfortunately, these kids are too young at the time they take such a limiting career path to understand the long odds against making it to the pros. More importantly, they don’t appreciate that successful NBA stars are not only good on the court, but have the rest of their priorities in life in order, including their grades.
This is the point driven home by Coach Koran Godwin in Everyone Hates a Ball Hog but They All Love a Scorer, a book which would make a great gift for any child inclined to put all of his eggs in one basket, the hoop basket. Coach Godwin speaks from experience, having excelled in the same sport all the way to the college level until an ankle injury aborted a very promising career. However, because he had always kept basketball in proper perspective, he had a relatively-smooth adjustment to that disappointing turn of events.
In a straightforward no-nonsense style, Godwin points out that, “My priorities were simple: God, family, school, and then basketball.” Consequently, he wasn’t a lost soul when he couldn’t enter the NBA after college. No, he had never neglected what matters most in life, thanks to the values instilled in him by the loving mother he freely credits with helping to keep his head screwed on straight. Today, still a devout Christian, Koran serves as a special sort of coach and role model, one who tempers his sage basketball savvy (and he shares plenty of that here) with a more important message designed to reach youngsters unhealthily blinded by b-ball ambition.
Faith-based advice from a brother with both a good book (The Bible) and a good jump shot.
To order a copy of Everyone Hates a Ball Hog, visit:
Everyone Hates a Ball Hog but They All Love a Scorer:
The Complete Guide to Scoring Points on and off the Court
by Coach Koran Godwin
CreateSpace Books/JumpStartHoops.com
Paperback
144 pages
ISBN: 1440459665
