Coach Ken Carter Tabbed as Keynote Speaker at IHCC Event

0
195

Indian Hills Community College will host Coach Ken Carter for the 40th Annual Celebrity Night event on Thursday, October 20.

The event will feature a reception, steak and seafood buffet dinner, remarks by Coach Ken Carter, and a live auction. All proceeds from the event support the Indian Hills Community College Foundation.

Coach Ken Carter sent a powerful message to his team by locking his undefeated, state play-off-bound basketball team out of the gym and forcing them to hit the books and stop counting on athletic potential as the only ticket out of a tough, inner city life. The film, Coach Carter, starring Samuel L. Jackson as the Coach, is based on the lock-out and is a testimony to the strength of Ken Carter’s convictions.

When he accepted the head basketball coach position at Richmond High School, in Richmond, CA, in 1997, Coach Carter had a monumental task in front of him. The students were failing academically at an alarming rate, and the athletic programs were in a pathetic state. Within two years, Carter had virtually single-handedly turned around the school, physically cleaning up trash and graffiti, as well as removing drug dealers from the premises, and mentally cleaning house. A signed contract with each player and his parents spelled out crucial rules of conduct: treat others with respect; shun drugs and alcohol; sit in the front of class and participate; wear a suit and tie on game day, and maintain a minimum 2.3 GPA. When not all of the players lived up to these obligations, the play-off bound, undefeated Richmond Oilers, including Carter’s son, 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 as a result, the whole team improved their GPAs. Most importantly, these inner-city students ultimately returned not just to the court, but to a new standard of winning, one which transcended the hoop dreams of high school, to college educations and futures they might never have imagined for themselves.

In addition to coaching the 2002 SlamBall championship team, The Rumble, Carter is a business entrepreneur and an author. He is also founder and chairman of the Coach Ken Carter Foundation, a non-profit organization that develops, promotes, and provides education, training and mentoring programs for minority youths. In 2002, he was selected to carry the Olympic torch for the San Francisco Bay Area/Richmond, CA.

Tickets to the 40th Annual Celebrity Night may be purchased online at www.indianhills.edu/celebritynightregistration. Tickets are $85 per person or $750 for a reserved table of 8. For more information on Celebrity Night, please contact Blaire Siems at 641-683-5111 or at [email protected].

0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments