Jamal Wallace is an African-American athlete who is recruited for his athletic ability by an all-white prep school. When an eccentric, reclusive novelist (Connery) discovers that the young athlete is also an excellent writer and secretly takes him on as his protégé, they develop an unlikely friendship. As they learn more about each other, they learn more about themselves, and ultimately, with the help of his new mentor, the basketball star must choose the right path between following his writing dreams or his hoop dreams.