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Hoop Dream Shattered, but His Success is Still a Slam Dunk

Not long ago, Evan Snelling was one of the top high school basketball prospects in Georgia – a likely Division 1 recruit with dreams of NBA glory. In his senior year, a devastating injury ended those dreams. But it didn’t derail his future. Now, as a mentor to dozens of young black men at Georgia Highlands College, Snelling revels in assisting others.

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Homeless, Yes … Yet Anything but Hopeless

Kevin Lee has spent most of his 22 years overcoming long odds. Raised by a single mother, homeless since age 16, moving from state to state and sometimes sleeping in shelters and living out of trash bags, Lee still managed to graduate from high school as class valedictorian. Now in Dallas, he’s a high-achieving student and campus leader at Paul Quinn College, whose nationally renowned president says Lee “has a shot to be extraordinary.”

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Once an Aimless Athlete, Now a Steady, Serious Scholar

“I drifted a lot in high school,” admits Terrance Range, recalling his “wildin’ out” teen years as a football star in Florida. Never letting his studies get in the way of a good time. Range flirted with failure his senior year and barely graduated. Today, at 29, Range is a vastly different person – a second-year doctoral student at Michigan State University who plans to become a college president.

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