2019 Foreword INDIES Award, Honorable Mention for Adventure, Sports & Rec 2020 Nebraska Book Award Akoy Agau led Omaha Central High School to four straight high school basketball state championships (2010-13) and was a three-time All-State player. One of the most successful high school athletes in Nebraska's history, he's also a South Sudanese refugee. At age four, Akoy and his family fled Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and after three years in Cairo, they came to Maryland as refugees. They arrived in Omaha in 2003 in search of a better future. In Omaha the Agaus joined the largest South Sudanese resettlement population in the United States. While federal resources and local organizations help refugees with housing, health care, and job placement, the challenge to assimilate culturally was particularly steep. For Akoy basketball provided a sense of belonging and an avenue to realize his potential. He landed a Division 1 basketball scholarship to Louisville for a year and a half, then played at Georgetown for two injury-plagued seasons before he graduated in the spring of 2017. With remaining eligibility, he played for Southern Methodist University while pursuing a graduate degree. In a fluid, intimate, and joyful narrative, Steve Marantz relates Akoy's refugee journey of basketball, family, romance, social media, and coming of age at Nebraska's oldest and most diverse high school. Set against a backdrop of the South Sudanese refugee community in Omaha, Marantz provides a compelling account of the power of sports to blend cultures in the unlikeliest of places.

Learning and teaching basketball skills and tactics can be challenging. Executing them in competition can be troubling. Mastering them can be a career-long quest.

Is it possible that a single book can provide all the instruction you need to conquer these basketball roadblocks? First you must know exactly how the skill or tactic is properly performed. Check Then you need to attempt it again and again, with corrective advice through those trials until you get it right. Check Next comes practice. Lots of practice, with drills designed to make performance of the skill or tactic efficient and effective. Check

In "Basketball: Steps to Success," Coach Hal Wissel covers the entire progression of technical and tactical development needed to become a complete player. From essential footwork to key principles of defense, this guide details the skills and tactics needed to excel in today's game. Shooting off the catch and creating shots off the dribble, running two- and three-player offensive plays, and many more topics in the book will prepare players to succeed in every situation on the court.