The Athletic Casting Call: Factors Contributing to the Social Construction of the Black Male College Athlete

Abstract

Intercollegiate athletics is a tremendous part of today’s society and encompasses numerous American lives. Its wide spectrum attracts various people from gender, race, ethnicity, cultures, religion, and sexuality. Black male student-athletes, a target of higher education institutions, are affected by sociological, institutional, and athletic factors. This population is highly sought after by college coaches due to their athletic abilities and ability skills in their specific sport in order to elevate their respective sports team, athletics’ department, and university into the national limelight. Current institutional and intercollegiate athletics’ trends that are incorporated to recruit Black male student-athletes are explored. Specific recruiting techniques utilized by college coaches to persuade this population are examined. The sociological issues in current intercollegiate athletics are analyzed with their direct effect on the college selection choice of Black male student-athletes.

Citation

Satterfield, J.W. and Croft, J.C. (2015), "The Athletic Casting Call: Factors Contributing to the Social Construction of the Black Male College Athlete", Black Males and Intercollegiate Athletics: An Exploration of Problems and Solutions (Diversity in Higher Education, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 21-43. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-364420140000016003