Backboards and Blackboards

College basketball experienced its greatest rise in popularity during the eighties, becoming one of the most commercially successful spectator sports in America. With this rise came an era of scandal: recruiting violations, spurious admittance practices, and controversial treatment of student athletes. Within this guarded context of scrutiny, allegations of improprieties, and media celebrity, Patricia and Peter Adler penetrated the public front of a top twenty basketball team. The result of their efforts, Backboards and Blackboards: College Athletes and Role Engulfment, is a compelling inside account of an exciting, intimidating, and glamorous hidden arena.