Reviews

New York Newsday writer Valenti's story of Lloyd Daniels (Swee'Pea), basketball, and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is not just a sports tale, but an indictment of our public education system, the big money game of major college basketball, and society itself. How is it possible that Daniels, a dyslexic young man who reads on a third grade level, could graduate from a public high school and then be admitted to a four-year state university? The answer, to paraphrase basketball commentators, is that Daniels could ``stick the J'' (consistently hit perimeter jump shots). Already suspended from postseason play for the 1990-91 season for other violations, last year's National Collegiate Athletic Association champions, UNLV, and coach Jerry Tarkanian may face further sanctions as a result of recruiting Daniels, an admitted drug user. This book should be in most libraries and on the required reading list of all high school athletes. Daniels will be featured on 60 Minutes this month.--Ed.-- William O. Scheeren, Hempfield Area Sr . High Sch.

Despite impressive raw talent as a basketball player, Lloyd (Swee'pea) Daniels hasn't made it to the NBA. Likewise, despite its melodramatic hype, this volume fails in its attempt to turn Daniels's story into a modern, inner-city tragedy. Valenti, a sports writer for New York Newsday , and Naclerio, a high school basketball coach, serve up a disjointed sequence of episodes about athletes who, like onetime pro player Earl Manigault, learned basketball on the street and squandered their lives on drugs. But the focus is on Daniels, who did not finish high school and can barely read yet attended the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, where he was arrested in a drug raid. He also put in a stint with the Continental Basketball Association's Topeka Sizzlers and, most dramatically, nearly died after he was shot in a $10 drug deal. Coaches and colleagues tried to discipline him, yet Daniels emerges as a man whose skill is exceeded by his laziness and arrogance, a player who cuts practice, ``blaming poor performance on injuries or on teammates, but never on himself.'' This career could never end with a bang--only a self-centered whine. (Jan.)