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News Coach Carter dunks inspiration on students
By Ashley Pastor Staff writer As the inspiration behind the 2005 film, "Coach Carter," famed high school basketball coach Ken Carter brought his message of accountability, integrity, teamwork and leadership to Mercyhurst College on Monday night. His lecture, "What you see is what you get: How to visualize and reach your goals," was featured by the Mercyhurst Student Government’s (MSG) Speaker Series. Carter’s honest, straightforward delivery makes him a sought-after personality in the academic, business and sports worlds. He uses real-life examples and a caring approach to energize individuals toward their highest potential. Monday, after making a grand entrance that included "jock-jams" style music blaring and t-shirts flying into the audience, Carter began his speech saying, "This presentation is like a woman’s dress; long enough to cover the basics but short enough to keep ya’ll interested." His entrance grabbed the attention of the already enthusiastic audience. Carter was at Mercyhurst to, as he said, "validate everyone’s ability to be successful." Senior Matt Ferris was surprised by Carter even before the presentation started. "I was sitting in the front row of the back section and he told me I needed to move to the front because it would be good for me," said Ferris. "So I moved to the front. Little did I know he was going to make me stand-up in the middle of his lecture and call me an investment banker." A men’s basketball coach Richmond High in California, Carter almost single-handedly turned around the school, physically and mentally cleaning up its trash, graffiti and drug dealers in two years. Junior Joanna Sanzo had seen the movie and was interested in seeing the "real deal." "When I was in high school my entire basketball team went together to see it," said Sanzo. "He is a realistic and inspirational person; I was excited to be able to hear him." Carter described Richmond as the "roughest" city in the state of California. More specifically, he told the audience that only 50 percent of the students at Richmond High would graduate, and were 80 times more likely to go to jail. Carter stressed the importance of having goals, and said "You are 10 times more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down." He said that goals were merely ideas with a deadline. He stressed that no one should go to sleep without having tomorrow on paper. Carter made his players at Richmond write down goals everyday in order to be successful members of the team and society. Through his own life experience, Carter was able to push his basketball team to realize their potential. He had each player sign a contract; everything that they would abide by in order to be a member of the team. The contract included 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 of a 2.3 GPA. However not all of the players lived up to the contract. The undefeated team was locked out of the gym, for-feiting six games in their 13-0 season. Carter stressed his message that the team needed to work into way out of the situation which they had gotten themselves. "If you don’t put anything into it, you won’t get anything out of it," Carter said to his players. "Once you experience failure, you will be able to face the next with enthusiasm." Carter in closing his lecture had the entire audience stand up, put their hands above their heads, put their right hand on their heart and spin in a circle. The confused audience did so with whispers and smiles. "Now ya’ll can leave this lecture saying ‘Coach Carter made me stand up, put my hands in the air, touched my heart and turned me around,’" said Carter. Junior Emily Donovan thoroughly enjoyed her Carter experience. "It was definitely worth it. He was all over the place and unpredictable and had a valuable message. By far one of the best speakers I have seen here," Donovan said. Carter also discussed the film based on his coaching saying, "I was on the set everyday of filming. The movie was 98.5 percent accurate. Samuel Jackson hit every one of his lines and everyone else’s." The PAC was captivated by the charismatic, small-town bred
coach that could turn a In attendance to the lecture were members of the Erie community. Children from the Boys and Girls Club of Erie were present, and the adult chaperone club was given a signed basketball from Carter as well as a $500 donation from his foundation to aid in supporting future endeavors. Carter said he will open a charter school in Dallas, TX. The school will feature 12-hour school days in order to keep children learning and growing at their fullest potential. The school will require the parents of the students to attend school on every Saturday. Carter describes the goal of the school to produce students who will be able to be as successful as possible. He wants to instill the same kind of inspiration and drive to these students as he was able to do for those at Richmond High. Carter will also air a TV series on MTV in the near future. |
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