He is currently at work on a number of book, feature film, podcast and documentary projects.
He taught his dog, Teddy Pendergrass Danois, to say “I Love You” and when he’s not working, he can be found on a dance floor or a karaoke near you belting out Alexander O’Neal’s greatest hits.
The inspiring true story of a remarkable coach whose superb undefeated high-school basketball team in 1980s Baltimore produced four NBA players and gave hope to a desperate neighborhood and city—“a feel-good story that is timely as well as true” (Glenn C. Altschuler, Florida Courier).
As the crack epidemic swept across inner-city America in the early 1980s, the streets of Baltimore were crime ridden. For poor kids from the housing projects, the future looked bleak. But basketball could provide the quickest ticket out, an opportunity to earn a college scholarship and perhaps even play in the NBA. Read More
It’s a tribute to the basketball boot camp that would morph into the country’s preeminent institution of higher learning, a crucible of competitive excellence that birthed the careers of over 500 NBA players and 325-plus pro and college coaches. From Michael Jordan to LeBron James, Moses Malone to Patrick Ewing, KD to CP3, John Calipari to Frank Vogel, from 1966 to present day, all of the game’s greats have worn Five-Star’s iconic orange and white t-shirt. This issue takes you down memory lane with 15 original stories and hundreds of never-before-seen photos from the camp that has had an indelible and multigenerational impact on the game, with the ancillary effects still resonating and being felt today.
For Merl Code, basketball was life.
In college he played point guard for Clemson before turning pro. Later, when he pivoted to marketing, he found himself thrust into a startling world of profit-driven college basketball programs. He realized that the NCAA’s amateurism rules could be used to exploit young athletes, and athletes of color in particular.
Now, for the first time, Code will share his side of the explosive story of college basketball’s dark reality—a system that begins with young talent in AAU programs and culminates at the highest levels of the NBA.
Propulsive, urgent, and eye-opening, Black Market exposes the truth to offer a more just way forward for both colleges and athletes.
Former NCAA champion and high school coach Tahj Holden is facing the fight of his life—not on the court, but in the hospital room where his
Fill out the form below to get in touch with Ali.
