Tamekiabushdissertationfinal.docx

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore how African American male student athletes developed their athletic and racial identity and how this impacted their academic identity.  I conducted two in depth interviews with 6 African American male current or former student athletes who played basketball or football in high school but were not eligible to be a NCAA qualifier for an athletic scholarship.   I sought to investigate the point when the student athletes began their career in athletics and when athletics began to impact their academic performance and why it impacted academic performance.   I also investigated how the African American male student athlete began to develop identity and how athletic and racial identity impacted the development of their academic selves.