School is cool.

As valid as the sentiment behind the old cliché may be, coaches and administrators know well that with each generation of student-athlete comes a host of other interests that vigorously compete with academic pursuits for the same designation.

However, a program established by a former student-athlete is seeking to help youth and young adults understand that acing the math exam is, indeed, just as cool as, and arguably more important than, sinking a basket at the buzzer or making the game saving tackle.

The aim of the Scholar Baller program is to pepper young people and young adults early with the message that having the desire to be cool isn’t, and shouldn’t be, limited to athletics, said program founder and currently an associate professor for the DeVos Sport Business Management graduate program at the University of Central Florida, C. Keith Harrison.

“It should also apply to academics. Networking should be cool. Planning for your future should be cool. Having goals that involve delaying gratification should be desired because we know the stats. Sport will end,” said Harrison. “We theorize that if we combine education with sport, young people will want to live a lifestyle that’s educational, hence, cool.”

Harrison, a former football student-athlete at West Texas A&M University, connected the word ‘scholar’ and all its positive connotations with the term, ‘baller,’ which has its roots in urban America. He coined the term ‘Scholar Baller’ along with an image called the ‘Thinkman’ in 1995. A ‘Thinkwoman’ image was developed later. The mission of the Scholar Baller program is to inspire youth to excel in education and life by using their cultural interests in sport and entertainment. More specifically, the movement integrates education, sport and hip-hop as a way of motivating and rewarding athletes who perform on the field and in the classroom.

So far 44 schools have integrated all or parts of the Scholar Baller program with all or a portion of the teams in the athletics departments. Of those 44 institutions, 30 are NCAA schools that have applied tenants of the Scholar Baller program to 184 men’s and women’s teams representing a wide variety of sports. Participating institutions include Arizona State University, Fordham University, Grand Valley State University, Pennsylvania State University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Northern Illinois University.

The movement also has a presence at the high school and junior college levels. As part of the program, participating institutions have the option of incorporating the whole Scholar Baller curriculum or just the incentive structure.

Harrison said the curriculum is based on six principles – identity; competitive spirit; Scholar Baller paradigm; purpose, vision, mission, goals; decision making system; and living Scholar Baller – and is designed to fit comfortably with and compliment existing programs such as CHAMPS/Life Skills that may already be in place. What may set Scholar Baller apart, however, is the use of pop culture as a framework. The program, which uses DVDs, CDs and other relevant things in sports and entertainment that young people already consume, also has a pretest and post-test element.

“We’re trying to dig deeper with the cultural messages that are already out there to look at this thing critically. We’re teaching critical life skills,” said Harrison, who noted that the NCAA currently is funding the implementation of the full Scholar Baller curriculum at three member institutions. The goals of the pilot project center around trying to increase the academic success of those student-athletes and attempting attract corporate support for the initiative. Though an official report on the success of the pilot isn’t due until August of next year, Harrison said there’s already evidence that the program works. In touting the program’s effectiveness, Harrison points to one school which went from 10 players with a 2.75 GPA to more than 60 since launching the program, and emphasizes that there are countless similar anecdotes that also support how well the program motivates student-athletes.

Scholar Baller’s incentive package involves rewarding high achieving student-athletes with fashion apparel such as shorts, t-shirts and hats. Those who earn a 3.0 grade-point average or better have the opportunity to wear what Harrison describes as the crowning jewel, the Thinkman or Thinkwoman patch, on their playing uniforms. The patch was approved by the NCAA in 2004. Teams with student-athletes who have earned the honor of wearing the patch have been seen on a various national networks such as ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, ABC and CSTV as well as local networks.

The incentive program operates within the boundaries of NCAA policies and Harrison noted that most schools find funding for the initiative through the Student-Athlete Opportunity Fund, but not always. Some institutions are utilizing money from other administrative areas on campus, rather than athletics. 

For all the success Scholar Baller has achieved thus far, Harrison recognizes that some may be put off or have misconceptions about the program because of its urban sounding name. But, the educator stresses that Scholar Baller is not just for the African American student-athlete. In fact, more than half of the participants are white. Rather, the program represents a wide range of diversity of student-athletes, all of whom demonstrate a strong academic identity along with athletics talent.

“Does Scholar Baller resonate more with urban youth than it does with suburban youth? I would say, sometimes. It just depends,” said Harrison. “We have had the concept embraced by scholar athletes at Columbia University to NCAA Division II schools to state universities. I think the point is that any misunderstanding about the term or any uneasiness has come from coaches and administrators who do not identify with young people and what they are into.”

But, there are a lot of coaches and administrators who do “get it,” Harrison said, which is why the program has grown so explosively, especially in the past two years. In fact, program administrators have been invited to present material to the American Football Coaches Association and the Mid-American Conference in January.  “There’s no way we could grow if people did not see that this has value and connects with young people. If Scholar Baller is the carrot, why not meet the youth and young adults halfway? Scholar Baller is not for us – administrators, faculty, and staff. It’s for the student-athletes.”

Even as he and others connected to Scholar Baller manage the present success, Harrison has an eye on the future. He’d like to expand the program so that entire conferences would incorporate the program league wide, and as the funding grows, he’d like to attract former high-achieving NCAA student-athletes to work for Scholar Baller.

“We’ve got to get the message out there about the brand and that it’s something positive,” said Harrison. “It’s not monolithic and it’s more than entertainment. It’s educational. It’s diverse and it’s for everyone.”