Shawn Harrington returned to Marshall High School as an assistant coach
years after appearing as a player in the iconic basketball documentary
film Hoop Dreams. In January of 2014, Marshall's struggling team was
about to improve after the addition of a charismatic but troubled
player. Everything changed, however, when two young men opened fire on
Harrington's car as he drove his daughter to school. Using his body to
shield her, Harrington was struck and paralyzed. The mistaken-identity
shooting was followed by a series of events that had a devastating
impact on Harrington and Marshall's basketball family. Over the next
three years it became obvious that the dream of the game providing a
better life had nearly dissolved. Author Rus Bradburd tells Shawn's
story with empathy and care, exploring the intertwined tragedies of gun
violence, health care failure, racial assumptions, struggling
educational systems, corruption in athletics--and the hope that can
survive them all.