102: Last Chance U (Commentary #4)

Sports Mastery

This episode was inspired by the Netflix football documentary LAST CHANCE U. It features several collegiate athletes that have been removed from Division I rosters due to academic or disciplinary issues. Our conversation is focused on all aspects of personal development, leadership, social intelligence, and overcoming setbacks. We begin this conversation discussing season 3; which explores Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas. The first two seasons were filmed at East Mississippi Community College.

We also address an email inquiry:

Hi DeShawn, I hope you're well. Just wanted to say I've enjoyed your last 2 podcasts on Last Chance U Season 3, which is by far my favorite season of the show. Will you be doing a separate podcast on each of the 8 episodes? I'm fascinated by sports performance and psychology and found Malik Henry's story particularly compelling. The podcast's breakdown of his behavior in the first 2 episodes make a lot of sense. Malik has all of the physical talents to be a star QB, but as you discussed, it seems he wasn't taught the discipline and mental toughness required to succeed and to cope with pressure and stress. It also seems that he was forced to choose football over baseball. At this point, he appears to still be unsigned and football season is about to start. I had a few questions for you (and maybe you'll cover this in the upcoming podcasts): What do you think are the options for someone in his position now? The show's portrayal of him didn't do him any favors and it seems most coaches would not want to take him on. He seems to have a lot of baggage. Is there any way he could make it back into a D1 school? How does he make a comeback from the last 2 years when his reputation has taken such a hit? How does he show coaches that he has developed the required mental toughness and discipline? Or maybe he switches to baseball? Is that even possible this "late" in the game? Thanks! Rain C.