Zack Brown is an inner city high school junior from Chicago, Illinois, who has a passion for basketball. His mother Linda says that every since he saw Michael Jordan play when he was four years old he has loved the sport. Zack’s life hasn't always been so black and white. Zack has had a lot of dark times in his life. His father has been in and out of jail and his older brothers have been in and out of gangs. He was just seven years old when  his older brother Demarcus was shot right through his chest, damaging his lungs dieing instantly at the scene. After Zack heard that his brother has passed he knew right away that he can’t be in a gang, and he turned to basketball to help him stay out of the gang life. Zack’s basketball talent was unheard of. 

Zack was a normal kid, the only thing that separated him from others was his basketball talent. Everyone in his community compared him to Michael Jordan. The community members were counting on Zack to take his basketball career to the top, and hopefully one day give back to the community. Zack never would let any of this get to his head, he viewed himself as just a normal kid doing what he loved. Zack loves the competitiveness about basketball.

Zack has been playing travel basketball ever since he has been six, which has gained him a lot of playing experience. Playing travel basketball is not cheap and Linda has had to work very hard to pay for it. Linda works day and night as the head waitress at a local fast food restaurant, and Zack helps her out from time to time. It is very hard to miss Zack, he is a very distinctive guy.

Being a 6-9 small forward who also has handles like a point guard he is very noticeable on the court. As a freshman in high school Zack made the varsity team at Harlem High School. Zack was the starting small forward for all four years. Zack woke up every morning at the crack of dawn to shoot some hoops before school starts, and stays after school to shoot more hoops. The janitors in the school would try and kick him by turning off the lights but he just wouldn't leave. He trained and shot if the lights were even on or off. It didn't matter to him. He enjoyed playing with the lights off, because he found that it would make him a better player. Zack was a smart and hardworking kid, from a young age he knew already what he wanted to do in the future.

Zack has two goals in his life, he wants to play college basketball and make it to the NBA. This process has not been easy for him. He has had to devote all of his time to basketball which has affected his grade. College coaches have told him that he has to raise his grades if he wants to get any attention from them. Luckily for Zack, his long time coach is going to help him accomplish his goals. Coach Damion majored in English, so he is very capable to help Zack raise his grades. Zack has a 2.2 right now and he has to get to a 2.4 to be NCAA eligible. If Zack gets a   B+ in English in the first semester then he will be eligible. As of right now Zack has a B, so he has to get an A on the semester final to reach his goal, however it is not as easy as it sounds, but Zack does accomplish it. .

After Zack accomplishes his goal of getting an A on his finals, he starts to get a billion phone calls, emails, and letters from the coaches. Zack has a bright future ahead of him. Zack is training harder then ever because now he has the motivation of these schools. He responds to all of them in a span of a week, letting them know if he is interested or not. Zack narrows his schools down to five. He now faces the challenge of picking the right school.  has He has to pick between: UCLA, USC, Illinois, Duke, and North Carolina. Zack loves the idea of California, but has the pressure of his friends and family to stay close to home and go to Illinois. Duke and North Carolina are still on his list because of the legendary coaches there.

Zack is in constant contact with all five of these schools, until one day he just stops hearing from them. Months go by and he hears nothing. Zack has now entered a dark time in his life.  Zack stops playing basketball, and it just goes downhill from there. He joins a gang and starts to do drugs. Zack’s life was not looking to bright. He has gained weight and has been in trouble from the police a number of times. His mother along with coach Damion have been trying really hard to fix this, along with him trying to  get him back to be playing basketball Zack’s school grades are still steady, and he is still maintaining that 2.4 GPA, however gang and drug trouble is growing. Coach Damion caught Zack smoking on campus and Zack’s life kept on getting darker and darker, until one day a miracle changed his life.

One morning Zack is walking to the bus for school at five am. Zack feels a little weird, but just ignores it and goes about his morning. Zack still does not have basketball that he holds for practice, instead he has his books in one hand and his drugs in the other. As he gets off the bus coach Damion is waiting for him. The first thing coach does is strips the drugs from him and replaces it with a basketball and lets Zack know that we got work to do. Zack lets coach know that he is done with ball and throws the ball back at him. Then coach lets him know that UCLA and Duke have just called him and they want him on campus in a month. Zack's life is about to change forever.

Zack goes about his day like its regular day, until school ends and the he sprints for the gym. Drugs and gangs are no more, and basketball becomes life again. The janitors now leave the lights on for Zack when he is there after school hours, so that he can play ball and do his homework in the gym. Zack the druggy is gone and Zack the ball player is now back. Zack's goals are back in his head and he is working like a dog. Zack and coach Damion are getting ready for Zack’s visits to UCLA and Duke.

Zack’s time at both schools was a success. His basketball skills never left him, and he got back into shape real quick. Both coaches were very impressed. Duke has offered Zack an 80 % percent scholarship and guarantee starting position, however UCLA has offered Zack a full ride and a starting spot. Zack only has a week to decide because the coaches just got back to him, even though regular decision day was two weeks ago. Zacks  Decision day has finally come and the entire school was in the gym waiting for Zack to make his decision. Unfortunately for Zack his father was not able to make it as he is in prison, but he had his whole communities support, including his gang member friends. Zack ultimately picks UCLA. He was crying as he was thanking his whole family for always supporting him. He gave coach Damion and his mother Linda a special shoutout for always believing in him and always staying positive even during the dark times. Zack then makes the phone call to the UCLA coach to let him know that he has committed there.

Zack decides to major in sports management at UCLA in hopes of still going to the NBA. In his freshman season at UCLA it was a rough year with some maturity issues, but by sophomore year he was thriving. At the end of Zack’s junior year he decides to forgo his senior year and try and pursue his dream, playing in the NBA. After the pre-draft workouts, Zack was projected to go in the mid to late 1st round of the draft. Zack is a 6”9 small forward who has had some maturity issues so coaches have been skeptical about him. Draft day had come around and Zack is at the draft with his mother, coach Damion and a couple of his highs school teammates passionately waiting for his name to be called. Seven picks go by and then all of a sudden Zack hears the NBA commissioner say “ with the 8th overall pick the Los Angeles Lakers have drafted Zack Brown, from UCLA”, right at that moment Zack falls to the ground in tears. Zack couldn't believe that all of his dreams have come true. All Zack can do is thank his coach and his mother for everything. Zack is now excited to hit the ground running and work hard to become an NBA all star and one day a NBA champion.