PAT CONROY—AMERICA’S MOST BELOVED STORYTELLER—IS BACK!“I was born to be a point guard, but not a very good one. . . .There was a time in my life when I walked through the world known to myself and others as an athlete. It was part of my own definition of who I was and certainly the part I most respected. When I was a young man, I was well-built and agile and ready for the rough and tumble of games, and athletics provided the single outlet for a repressed and preternaturally shy boy to express himself in public....I lost myself in the beauty of sport and made my family proud while passing through the silent eye of the storm that was my childhood.” So begins Pat Conroy’s journey back to 1967 and his startling realization “that this season had been seminal and easily the most consequential of my life.” The place is the Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, that now famous military college, and in memory Conroy gathers around him his team to relive their few triumphs and humiliating defeats. In a narrative that moves seamlessly between the action of the season and flashbacks into his childhood, we see the author’s love of basketball and how crucial the role of athlete is to all these young men who are struggling to find their own identity and their place in the world.In fast-paced exhilarating games, readers will laugh in delight and cry in disappointment. But as the story continues, we gradually see the self-professed “mediocre” athlete merge into the point guard whose spirit drives the team. He rallies them to play their best while closing off the shouts of “Don’t shoot, Conroy” that come from the coach on the sidelines. For Coach Mel Thompson is to Conroy the undermining presence that his father had been throughout his childhood. And in these pages finally, heartbreakingly, we learn the truth about the Great Santini.In My Losing Season Pat Conroy has written an American classic about young men and the bonds they form, about losing and the lessons it imparts, about finding one’s voice and one’s self in the midst of defeat. And in his trademark language, we see the young Conroy walk from his life as an athlete to the writer the world knows him to be.

Hes led the Duke Blue Devils to five straight Final Four appearances, culminating in back-to-back championships in 1991 and 92. Hes received five National Coach of the Year Awards. Many of the players he coached in college have gone on to NBA stardom. The facts speak for themselves: Mike KrzyzewskiCoach Kknows how to get the best out of his players and win consistently. He now offers the insights he uses to coax peak performance from his team, relying on lessons he learned as a captain in the U.S. Army, sportsmanship, respect, and a genuine gift for leading with the heart.

"They Call Me Coach is grass-roots Americana, a story bigger than basketball. One of those rare sports books that is must reading for everyone." -- Chicago Tribune "What Knute Rockne was to football, Connie Mack to baseball, and Wilbur and Orville Wright to flying, John Wooden is to basketball. This book captures the full flavor of the man, the philosophies that work in life and the philosophies that work on the court. I commend it to people who want to succeed at either--or both." -- Jim Murray, Los Angeles Times This bestselling, critically acclaimed autobiography of UCLA's legendary coach John Wooden is now expanded, revised and updated. Coach Wooden, for the first time ever, reveals his all-time favorite players, teams, and coaches and tells why television broadcasting is corrupting college athletics. He reflects on his 52-year marriage to Nellie Wooden, his record-breaking coaching career, and how his top players have gone on to shape and change the NBA. In a special question-and-answer section, Coach finally answers the most-asked questions about his life, career, players, and teams. Never-before-seen photos round out this very personal story of life, death, and the courage it takes to endure. Jack Tobin has been writing for more than fifty years. He currently contributes to Sports Illustrated.

Recounts the remarkable story of University of Michigan basketball players Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson, and chronicles their success in the NCAA tournaments of 1992 and 1993.

Feinstein takes readers inside the locker rooms, the grueling practices, the late-night strategy sessions. They get a close-up look at recruiting, referees, injuries, winning, losing, and the private lives of the game's biggest stars.

Like millions who love college basketball, John Feinstein was first drawn to the game because of its intensity, speed and intelligence. Like many others, he felt that the vast sums of money involved in NCAA basketball had turned the sport into a division of the NBA, rather than the beloved amateur sport it once was. He went in search of college basketball played with the passion and integrity it once inspired, and found the Patriot League. As one of the NCAA's smallest leagues, none of these teams leaves college early to join the NBA and none of these coaches gets national recognition or endorsement contracts. The young men on these teams are playing for the love of the sport, of competition and of their schools. John Feinstein spent a season with these players, uncovering the drama of their daily lives and the passions that drive them to commit hundreds of hours to basketball even when there is no chance of a professional future. He offers a look at American sport at its purest.

Chad Millman takes readers inside Las Vegas's high-stakes gambling machine where even the unlikeliest characters find something in common. . Chad Millman takes readers inside Las Vegas's high-stakes gambling machine where even the unlikeliest characters find something in common. There's the intense high roller with the shaved head who morphed from cocaine addict to vegan bodybuilder without missing a bet. There's the college dropout whose parents kicked him out of the house when he decided betting would be his way of life. And there's the bookmaker who wonders what could have been if he had the guts to take the same risks as the bettors he despises. Between them and glory was the 19992000 NCAA basketball season, with its thousands of games, hundreds of teams, and "March Madness. " The bets were big-sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars in a single day-but the stakes were even larger. For the bookmaker, the need for the thrill would put his whole career at risk. For the high roller, the need for a big win kept his demons churning. And for the kid, what was at stake was quite possibly his soul. Millman paints a vivid portrait of Las Vegas in light and shadow as he follows the three players throughout the NCAA season, taking readers behind the scenes and into their lives as they win, lose and eventually risk everything.