Media Credit: photos by Josh Mintz Ken Carter, former coach of the Richmond High School basketball team, spoke about going beyond the surface value of all aspects of life Wednesday night. [Click to enlarge]

[Click to enlarge]

Ken Carter, Richmond High School's former basketball coach and inspiration for the motion picture "Coach Carter," crumpled up a $20 bill and threw it down on the Rose Theatre stage during his speech Wednesday evening.

He said it was life's metaphor.

"You don't work by the hour, but by the value of the hour," Carter said.

Carter said America's youth is one-third of the population, yet 100 percent of the future.

Richmond is one of the most crime-ridden cities in California, he said.

"You have more chances to go to jail in Richmond then going to college," Carter said.

Six years ago, Carter stopped game activity at Richmond High because 15 of the school's 45 basketball players underperformed in the classroom. Most of the students also did not go to class. Many disagreed with him, but Carter had bigger goals in mind.

Sometimes chances do not come in six-figure checks and endorsement deals. Working from the bottom up is not always bad either, he said.

Actually, working from the bottom up is a must, Carter said.

"One out of 500,000 makes it to the professional ranks, while 25,000 millionaires work with Microsoft," he said. "You ask people why they get up in the morning and most of them cannot tell you."

Carter battled with Richmond's school board for a stronger academic plan. He spent $15,000 on a program he proposed to the school. He also offered a contract to the players who wanted to stay.

However, he wanted to reach out beyond Richmond. He wanted young people to see beyond the ball.

Carter said there are two kinds of people with money. There are the rich and the wealthy, he said.

"I had a player who came up to me and asked 'Coach, don't you want to be like Shaq?' and I said no," he said of the Miami Heat superstar. "I want to be like the woman or man who pays Shaq. There are differences between a job and a career."

Carter said building a career and working from the neck up should always be a choice. Not everyone is going to become a major star and getting an education should be top priority, he said.

"In our lives we must take one step at a time," Carter said. "Sometimes success is just having a wife, but I wanted more."

Some University of Memphis students said wealth is not just limited to monetary resources, but instead carries deeper meanings.

"Wealth takes you a long way, but not short term," said Kesha Fifer, a graduate student in biology.

Sean Upshaw, a junior philosophy and illustration major, said the problem with today's youth and even college students is the image given. Society tends to show them a fragment of what really happens, he said.

"You have to be educated in what you're getting into, to prepare for what you're about to face," he said. "A wealthy man knows his money will continue, while a rich man could run his money out in less than a heartbeat."

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