When it comes to coping with the stresses of being a scholar-athlete, many kids are finding that Matters

Hi, Mom!

Not too long ago, the image of a Black athlete smiling broadly into a camera's lens waving hello to mom was a common occurrence. Likewise, many a parent's dream of a new home was realized when their child signed a multimillion-dollar contract.
 But what about the Black athlete scholar? Why don't we hear more about renaissance men like the great Paul Robeson, who triumphed on the field and in the classroom? The crucial role that parents play in the academic and athletic success of scholar-athletes is only now gaining serious attention.
While poring over this year's entries for the award, the BI staff found three families with an extended tradition of athletic and scholarly excellence. These athletes came from environments that held academics in high esteem.  Several themes are common among the families we profile.
Academic priorities are what set apart the Turners, including Dr. Rick Turner, dean of African-American Studies at the University of Virginia and his wife, Tamrya, who insisted that hitting the books came before hitting the courts; the Webbers, who wouldn't let their children — including National Basketball Association star Chris — play sports unless they kept their grades up; and the Catchings, where former NBA star Harvey Catching constantly reminds his daughters of the importance of getting their college degrees.

The Turners
Hajj Malik Turner has had a difficult introduction to life as a college athlete. Instead of spending time racking up points on the basketball court for the University of Louisville Cardinals, Turner has been sidelined with knee injuries for two years. Rather than let his injuries get him down however, Turner has excelled in his studies, earning a 4.0 and becoming, for the past three semesters, a member of the Golden Key National Honor Society. 
"Everyone tells you that basketball won't last, but I think I have had to face athletic mortality a lot earlier in my career," says Turner, who is a junior but has two years of academic eligibility left.
Turner credits his family for giving him the ability to keep things in perspective. "I was raised in a tight knit family," he says. "Most people don't have that kind of support. The thing I hold closest to my heart is my family. My parents are my biggest heroes and my big brother and sister are my biggest role models."
Like his father before him, the younger Turner is studying Pan African Studies at Louisville.  His name, Hajj Malik, is Malcolm X's Muslim name.
When his children were young, Rick Turner says he and his wife, an English professor at Piedmont Community College, had a plan.
"We didn't plan to pay for college. Our kids were going to college on an academic or athletic scholarship," he says.
So the Turners dedicated themselves to preparing their children, Tarik, Mandisa and Hajj, to succeed in the classroom and on the court. All three children won basketball scholarships to Division I universities.
 Turner considers it so important that Black parents be involved in their children's education that he runs the Parent Advisory Committee at the University of Virginia.
"Everybody is not going to get a college scholarship or go the NBA," Turner says.  "That's why athletes have to excel in the classroom as well as on the court."
Tarik played basketball at St. John's University from 1994 to 1998 and also in Finland. Their daughter, Mandisa, played basketball at George Washington University and will graduate this year with a degree in engineering.
Hajj credits his parents' vigilance with keeping him on the straight and narrow. Rick Turner was the coach for many of his children's teams, which helped. But like many a teenager, Hajj says he had a tendency to get distracted in school.
"My parents made it real clear that if we didn't do what we were supposed to in school, we couldn't play sports," he says. "In the eighth grade, I didn't come through on what I had to do and I had to quit the season."
After his knee injury, Hajj threw himself into his academic work and became even more thankful for his parents.
"It's hard to deal with sometimes, but my family was always there for me."
 He'd like to play basketball professionally, but plans to become an educator like his father if his athletic career doesn't pan out. 
"It became even more important for me to do well in college," he says, "because I'm not going to fall off the face of the earth because I'm not playing basketball."