Biography of a manuscript:

How it all got started…

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Biography of a ManuscriptThe Roots of the Author

• Andre grew up in a single parent home (his father passed away when he was 5) in Central Los Angeles and attended St. Bernard H.S. in Playa Del Rey.

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• Andre entered the University of Washington in 1981, and (as a walk-on) enjoyed the successes of a great program under the leadership of the legendary Don James.

Biography of a ManuscriptRealizing a dream– Playing College Football

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• In five years he played in four Bowl Games including the 81’ Rose Bowl and 85’ Orange Bowl.

Biography of a ManuscriptRealizing a dream– Playing College Football

Sponsored by Nextel1985 Orange Bowl

• After his freshmen year, Andre was 6 units short of eligibility for the following season. He was an academic red-shirt during the 82’ season.

• By the Winter of 83’, the Dean of Studies informed him that he had flunked out with a G.P.A. below a 2.0

Biography of a ManuscriptLiving a Nightmare: Flunking out of School

& Getting Caught up in the Hype

• Andre was reinstated during the Fall of 83’ after achieving a 3.7 G.P.A during one quarter. at N. Seattle Community College.

• However upon re-entering the University his old habits emerged, and by the Winter of 84’ the Dean of Studies asked him to leave again. This time for 2 quarters.

• The epiphany which changed his life occurred while sitting in a J.C. classroom, when Andre realized that he was moving backwards instead of forwards.

Biography of a ManuscriptLiving a Nightmare: Flunking out of School

& Getting Caught up in the Hype

• Andre was re-instated in the fall of 1984 after completing two quarters at Seattle Central C.C., with a GPA of 3.4

• Andre was accepted into his department major his junior year (Society & Justice), only after realizing that his low G.P.A. gave him very few choices.

• From this point forward Andre would earn nothing less than a 3.0 in his course work.

Biography of a ManuscriptShifting the Momentum:

How I turned it all around.

• Andre graduated in 1987 with a B.A. in Criminal Justice, some 6 years after entering

• After graduation, he became aware of the reality that many of the guys he had played with had not graduated. In some cases, he discovered that some players were not even close.

• Thus began his interest in student-athlete graduation rates, and what could be done to improve them..

Biography of a Manuscript

• In 1991 both authors established 5A ( The African American Athletic Alumni Association), to offer workshops and guidance to high school and college student-athletes.

• The first vestiges of the book manuscript for The Sport of Learning and Your Brain is a Muscle Too were written into the curriculum of these workshops.

Biography of a Manuscript

• In October 1994 Andre & Vince met Richard Lapchick, at the director of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston.

• Lapchick gave both authors a tour of the center, and shared numerous statistics on student-athlete graduation and career success rates.

• After this trip both authors returned with one goal: to get started on the manuscript for their first book: The Sport of Learning

• Richard Lapchick would later write the foreword for the book.

Biography of a Manuscript

• After self-publishing and selling 10,000 copies of The Sport of Learning in two years, the authors were approached by Harper Collins Publishing of New York; and revisions and updates were made to the original version.

Biography of a Manuscript

• In August 2001 Your Brain is a Muscle Too! was born in stores nation wide.

Biography of a Manuscript

• In 2001, Andre was asked to participate on the curriculum writing committee for the LAUSD student Life Skills Course.

• Andre is currently teaching Life Skills in Los Angeles, CA at Crenshaw High School.

Biography of a Manuscript