Power Forward: My Journey from Illiterate NBA Player to a Magna Cum Laude Master's Degree

by Dean Tolson

Overview

Dean Tolson was one of the top prep basketball players in the state of Missouri his junior and senior years at Central High School in Kansas City. So, when the colleges came running, he accepted a full ride to the University of Arkansas. Despite being unable to read or write, he went on to be one of the most prolific players to grace the Razorbacks’ campus. In 1974, Tolson was the first basketball player to be drafted by both the NBA and the ABA, having been selected by the Seattle Supersonics and the New York Nets, respectively, ultimately playing for the legendary Bill Russell in Seattle. Following his basketball career, Tolson made the courageous decision to re-enroll at the University of Arkansas, and repeated all four years, this time legitimately. At the age of fifty-two, he returned to the university for three more years, earning a master’s degree and graduated magna cum laude. Tolson’s gripping story from his childhood in an orphanage to his academic achievements is not only an indictment of a system that would just “pass you along” from grade to grade as a hot basketball prospect without any educational accountability, but also an inspiring story of overcoming great odds to find success.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493076895
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	1,041,197
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Byron "Dean" Tolson was born in Kansas City, Kansas on November 25, 1951. He overcame a childhood of poverty, illiteracy, and five years in an orphanage to become an NBA basketball player. He was drafted from the University of Arkansas by former superstar player Bill Russell, by then the general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics, in 1974, where he played for three seasons. At the age of fifty-two he returned for three more years and graduated with a master’s degree in Education and magna cum laude honors. In 2007, he was inducted into the National Scholars Honor Society in Chicago, Illinois. For the past thirty years he's been a professional motivational speaker on the subject of "Better Your Best and Bring Out the Best of Others," delivering more than three hundred speeches everywhere from top universities to private membership clubs and corporate organizations.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I believe this book is destined to reach a broad spectrum of people: young and old, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, job holders and job seekers as well as students and student athletes. On every page, it challenges you to look deep and ask, ‘Who am I?’ Let Dean Tolson's story inspire you to answer that question for yourself.” —Steadman Graham, American educator, businessman, author "The key to Dean's story is that it has a real message to send out to many talented young athletes in the U.S., and it makes an important comment on the problems of the uneasy marriage between sports and our educational systems." Alex Siskin, former Development Executive, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Studios