Jamison and Stackhouse Return to Chapel Hill for Graduation - Brief Article

Black Issues in Higher Education, Jan 6, 2000

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Basketball stars Jerry Stackhouse and Antawn Jamison fulfilled dreams of earning college degrees on top of their high-paying NBA careers when they joined about 1,100 others receiving diplomas last month from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Stackhouse and Jamison left the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill early to play professional basketball. Stackhouse, 25, entered the NBA draft in 1995 and was selected third. Jamison, 23, entered the professional ranks in 1998 as the fourth over-all pick.

Both received degrees in African American studies after completing graduation requirements during summer classes. Both say graduation was one of the most exciting moments of their lives.

"There is life after basketball," says Jamison, who plays for the Golden StateWarriors. "I need something to fall back on." Stackhouse, who now plays for the Detroit Pistons, came back to Chapel Hill four summers in a row for courses that included biology, sociology, golf and a biology lab. He left college early for the NBA in part because his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer during his sophomore year and Stackhouse wanted to help financially. Now her disease is in remission and she attended the graduation ceremony.

"It's the thing I promised my mom," he says. "This is something that you have worked on for years, and it is such a great feeling to finally do it. Basketball has been my whole life, but this is really a great achievement. It is amazing to see the pride on the faces of my family."