Former NBA Player Rashad McCants Scores a New Book

          It all starts with a dream. Across the country approximately 8 million kids are high school athletes. Only 480,000 of them will move on to compete as NCAA athletes. Year after year, decade after decade, young kids tune in to watch their collegiate idols hit a shot at the buzzer in the NCAA Tournament, or score the winning touchdown in a collegiate bowl game. They watch the euphoric accomplishments in admiration and hope to some day reaching the same climatic level.

           The Rashad McCants story began in Asheville, North Carolina. At the tender age of 10, Rashad discovered he was good at playing sports. As he grew older, he noticed he reached a level beyond being good. Rashad’s advanced athletic ability placed him in the category of being a prodigy.

           He began his high school career in Asheville, North Carolina where he attended Erwin High School. In his final two years of high school, McCants was a student-athlete at New Hampton School in New Hampton, New Hampshire. In 2001 he won the New Hampshire Player of The Year Award. The following year, once again, McCants won the New Hampshire Player of The Year Award, in addition to winning the New England Prep School Class A Championship, and being named MVP of the title game.

           After playing in the McDonald’s All-American Game with two future teammates, Rashad McCants transitioned to the collegiate level as a member of the North Carolina Tar Heels. Highly recruited by many prestigious universities, Rashad narrowed it down to Duke and North Carolina. In the end he chose to be a Tar Heel. “I considered going to Duke, but I chose North Carolina, because I looked up to Michael Jordan (a former Tar Heel), and I wanted to chase greatness,” McCants stated. McCants tapped into that greatness his junior year as he and his team capped off a magical season with a victory in the NCAA Championship Game over the University of Illinois.  

           The chase for greatness led Rashad McCants to the NBA. As the 14th pick in the 2005 NBA draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected the 6’ 4” guard out of North Carolina. McCants NBA stint lasted four years. It ended in 2010 after being released from the Dallas Mavericks.

           In June of 2014, Rashad McCants made some damaging accusations towards the University of North Carolina and their athletic program. He told ESPN’s Outside the Lines that during his days as a student-athlete at North Carolina, he took classes that didn’t require him to physically attend, he rarely went to classes he had to attend, and had tutors write papers for him. The situation initially developed in school when McCant’s head coach Roy Williams informed McCants that due to his poor grades he was flirting with academic probation.  

           The following semester, McCants was persuaded to take four AFAM (Afro and African American Studies) classes. “These were paper classes you didn’t have to go to. All you had to do was write a paper at the end of the semester,” McCants stated. As a result of taking those AFAM classes, McCants  received four A’s and made the Dean’s List. “You’re not there for an education. You’re there to make revenue for the college. You’re there to put fans in the seats and bring prestige to the university by winning,” McCants said. Coach Roy Williams and McCants former teammates denied the allegations.

           “The truth is in the transcripts. All you have to do is look at the transcripts,” McCants stated. McCants was the only one willing to give permission to make his transcripts public. This was a definite sign of McCants having validity to his claims. A look into his transcript showed he made six C’s, one D, and three F’s in non-AFAM classes. In the AFAM classes, McCants made ten A’s and six B’s. As you dissect the transcript, it shows how North Carolina treated McCants as an athlete-student as opposed to a student-athlete. They did what they needed to do to keep him eligible and able to play basketball.

           Most college athletes will go pro in something other than the sport they play. This is why receiving a college education while you’re there is so important. Dedicated to the cause, Rashad McCants has inked a new book entitled Plantation Education: The Exploitation of the Modern Day Athlete-Student. “The intent of this book is to show student-athletes they can fight for a real education. They don’t have to exist as free laborers, falling for the fraud and corruption of the NCAA,” McCants explains. McCants categorizes the book as a cautionary Bible that can provide parents and young adults information on what steps to take, which college to go to, how to evaluate scholarship opportunities, and which classes to take.

           In addition to explaining the problems, he also details viable solutions in the book. Plantation Education contains a great mixture of educating, advising, and McCants shares some of his own personal experiences. McCants preaches about the importance of receiving a proper education, due to the fact if you don’t make it to the pro level in the sport you play, you need that education to fall back on. “After sports can no longer benefit you, you can no longer benefit sports. That value you once had becomes a memory as you are reintroduced to society outside of sports, where no one gives a damn what sport you played. Once you’re done with the sport you become a common man,” McCants stated.

           Plantation Education: The Exploitation of the Modern Day Athlete-Student is a must read for student-athletes and their parents. Rashad McCants details a great deal of unknown information that needs to be known. The book Plantation Education: The Exploitation of the Modern Day Athlete-Student now available at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon.com.