Ken Reeves, a forward with the Chicago Bulls, is forced to retire after suffering a serious knee injury. His old friend and high school teammate, Jim Willis, who is principal of Carver High near L.A., drops by to offer him a job as basketball coach. Reeves is reluctant, but agrees. Among the challenges he faces with the school and the team include a female vice principal who doesn't like him and a player, James Hayward, who has a lot of potential, but also is fatherless and may have to drop out of school to go to work and take care of his mom and little brother.

Coach Reeves and the team discover liquor in Jackson's locker, and fear he may have a drinking problem.

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College scouts are impressed with Reese and believe he has a good shot at a scholarship. However, Reese's plans are put on hold when his girlfriend, a Carver cheerleader, tells him she's pregnant. Coach Reeves and the team discover her attending cheerleader practices and believe she may be lying about the pregnancy to trap Reese into marrying her.

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after gomez gets knocked off the carver high basketball team he joins a street gang he onced belonged to

Reeves deals with a new player, Raymond Collins, who was forced to transfer from his old school because of rumors about his being gay.

The team's excitement over being invited to compete in a basketball tournament is overshadowed when the plane they're on develops mechanical trouble.

When the team goes to Las Vegas to play in a tournament, they secretly take a pool of money collected from the students so they can gamble and return home with a fortune.

Coach Reeves substitute-teaches a P.E. class, loses his temper, and hits a student, Lucius Robinson, who refuses to participate. Reeves feels guilty about the incident, learns of Lucius' troubles, and offers to help him in any way. Reeves then quickly learns that some students can't be helped when Lucius tries to rape Mrs. Buchanan.

Mac Wade, a tall, white, ""can't miss"" college basketball prospect, transfers to Carver for his senior year due to re-zoning, which excites Reeves. However, Reeves discovers that Mac can't read and has been allowed a free ride through school because of his basketball skills. The problem is further compounded when Mac, who has never had to take a test in school, is caught cheating on a test and has to be suspended.

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Goldstein's grandmother is hospitalized and his grandfather stays at the hospital with her, so Coach Reeves asks the team to check in on him at home every so often. The other guys aren't too keen on this because Goldstein really doesn't fit in with them, but they agree to check on him and, in the process, take advantage of him and his hospitality. Goldstein threatens to quit the team, and Coach Reeves gives him a lecture on standing up for himself.

The team wants to form a singing group, but elect not to include Thorpe, who begins a dating interest with Karen LeGrand, a white girl with an unsavory reputation around school.