Is ‘Coach Carter’ Based on a True Story?

Samuel L. Jackson is the perfect man for any role that needs to be authoritative, intimidating, and non-nonsense. He’s Nick Fury! He’s Jules Winnfield! And he’s Coach Ken Carter, the man who inspired the 2005 film Coach Carter.

Coach Carter is new on Netflix as of March 1, and now audiences who have been streaming the film, which co-stars Channing Tatum, Rob Brown, and Rick Gonzalez as members of the high school basketball team that Carter coaches, and wondering whether or not this no-nonsense coach was, in fact, real.

Is Coach Carter based on a true story?

Coach Carter stars Samuel L. Jackson as Ken Carter, a former high school basketball player from Richmond, California, who returns to coach his old high school team. When he first arrives, Coach Carter asks the team members, including his own son, Damien, to sign contracts requiring them to maintain a certain grade point average, sit at the front of the class, and basically turn their unruly behavior around.

Carter sets a high bar for his team, both academically and on the court, and their hard work pays off, leading them to an undefeated season. However, when Carter learns that several of the team members have not been keeping their word and have broken their academic contracts, he essentially shuts down the basketball program, locking the school gym and forcing his students to study until their grades and behavior improve, forfeiting games in order to make his point.

After an angry public outcry, the school board then votes against Carter’s wishes and reinstates the program. Carter, a man of principle, threatens to resign as a result, but his students refuse to play unless he stays on as their coach, and once their grades ultimately improve, Carter and the team go on to compete in the state quarterfinals. (They lose, but the point is, academics are important too!)

The real version of these events aren’t that far from the truth, and the events that transpired were a national news story when they happened in the team’s 1998-99 season. Coach Carter really did lock the high school gym and refuse to let his players compete until they got their grades up, in an effort to instill the value of their academic achievements.

After the success of his team and the national attention Carter received, he went on to found the Coach Carter Impact Academy, and he became a motivational speaker. The only student depicted on the team who is based on a real person is Damien Carter, all of the other students are fictional. But one of Carter’s actual former students who played for him during that 1998-99 season, Wayne Oliver, did go on to play basketball internationally, and has even joined Carter as a motivational speaker.

Where to watch Coach Carter