The First Professional Athlete To Go From Illiteracy To A Master’s Degree

Spot a mistake in this transcript? Help this teacher out and shoot an email to vicki at coolcatteacher dot com. Thank you for being helpful! – Vicki, your podcast host and friendly fellow classroom teacher.

Transcript

Vicki Davis (00:01)

I am so excited today to be talking to Dean Tolson. He’s a former NBA professional basketball player, inspirational motivational And I’m not going to get too much into your story, Dean, because I want you to tell the story. You have a book called Power

that is a book that we’ll reference if you want to hear a lot more of Dean’s story. So thanks for coming on the show, Dean.

Byron Dean Tolson (00:31)

Thank you, Vicki, for having me on, and your listeners and your audience. And I think that we have something very important to share with them today about receiving a quality education and how that can affect their lives and lead to success.

Vicki Davis (00:47)

Okay. So tell us a little bit about your story. I mean, you’re the epitome of I mean, every kid, every, every guy I know who plays basketball, what do they want to do? It end up in the NBA, but you’re telling us that all they ended up in the NBA, that getting an education is Go back in time and, and back up to the young Dean and tell me your story a little bit.

Byron Dean Tolson (01:12)

Well, I’m the first professional athlete in American history to go from illiteracy to a master’s degree and graduate magna cum laude. No other professional athlete in any sport has ever achieved

Vicki Davis (01:29)

And so back to young Dean, how did you view education when you were I mean, you probably loved basketball back then when you were in elementary school, right?

Byron Dean Tolson (01:44)

I was illiterate and so I did not even understand about focusing on education and how important it was at that time. I was a true athlete and of course grew to be 6’9″, unknowing to me as a child growing up, but I was always the tallest kid in my

Vicki Davis (02:04)

Yeah, but you couldn’t read. When did you learn how to

Byron Dean Tolson (02:09)

when I was 32 years

Vicki Davis (02:11)

See, how does that happen as you look back and think on it? I how does this happen? You went the way through school, went all the way through college,

Byron Dean Tolson (02:19)

Well, then, bye!

Vicki Davis (02:22)

right?

Byron Dean Tolson (02:22)

Yeah, my mom had a eighth grade education and my dad had a third grade education. And so I flunked the fifth grade two times. And so I was going to flunk. My school was going to flunk me the third time. And my mom came to the school and intervened and said, Look, he’s the tallest kid in this class and I want you to pass him on anyway. So that developed the trend.

Vicki Davis (02:29)

Mm-hmm.

Oh.

Mm.

Yeah.

Byron Dean Tolson (02:49)

for teachers passing me on even though I wasn’t learning and I’m still illiterate, but I can play

Vicki Davis (02:59)

But that had to be when you were sitting in class. How did you when you were sitting? I mean, that just, it hurts my heart. This hurts my heart, Dane, because it does hurt because it just, like.

Byron Dean Tolson (03:06)

You’re hurting me, Mickey!

Vicki Davis (03:12)

Byron Dean Tolson (03:12)

I played and goofed off all day and look at the clock to make sure that at 3 o’clock I can’t wait to get out of school. All day, every day, for

Vicki Davis (03:25)

So what’s your word to kids now who want to do who want to goof off all day, every day, and who are getting passed on? You know that there are kids today that are a lot like young Dean, right?

Byron Dean Tolson (03:37)

They do the same Absolutely. And that’s why I’m doing this story, Vicki, to share with them, do not do that. Don’t do

It’s detrimental.

Vicki Davis (03:50)

So, yeah, so when you go to schools and you’re given your motivational speech about the importance of education, what do you tell the and what do they tell you about your story?

Byron Dean Tolson (04:04)

I tell them to be committed and apply themselves in school at all times. You have to do this. You can’t let somebody be on you all the time about get your books, go study, get your lesson, don’t do this, don’t do that, pass tests, study hard, you

You can’t keep doing it. You have to get kids to do that themselves. And that’s what I finally did in life. I finally did it

Vicki Davis (04:36)

So that was take me back in time and explain how you were feeling when you said you were 32 when you started Explain how you felt what you were doing and what made you decide you wanted to learn to

Byron Dean Tolson (04:45)

Good

Vicki Davis (04:52)

Byron Dean Tolson (04:54)

I decided that after every level of high school, college, and professional basketball, and 11 years of international basketball all over the world.

become a failure in life.

And to go to play at all those levels, that’s the dream of every kid in this country is to play at every level. But then once you’re done and you don’t have an education, you cannot come out here and be an integral part of society and get a job and earn a living wage. It ain’t going to happen. You can be flipping burgers at McDonald’s or Burger King or Or doing pushing a broom.

Vicki Davis (05:16)

Yeah, it is.

Yeah.

Byron Dean Tolson (05:39)

Cutting grass? Something you don’t want to

And that’s what it taught me and that I’m young enough at 32, I better try and go back and overcome this deficiency that I’ve created.

Vicki Davis (05:57)

Well, you didn’t just start reading, you got your masters. I mean, that’s That’s huge. You went from not being able to read to getting, what was your degree in, in your

Byron Dean Tolson (06:12)

Masters of Education in Workforce Development and Workplace Development with a concentration in Human Resources. Adult Education. And Statistics was the hardest course.

Vicki Davis (06:21)

Wow.

Wow.

Well, I mean, because you basically had to learn

Byron Dean Tolson (06:35)

Yeah, I really learned. When I was at the University of Arkansas, I created 80 hours of failing grades on 124-hour transcript. That’s what I went back to overcome this, what happened to me. They made me retake every single class I failed, yes. And I was moving 200 points. So you can imagine 200 points.

Vicki Davis (06:47)

Wow.

So you had to go back and retake your bachelor’s degree.

Byron Dean Tolson (07:06)

of credits to get it up to a two point because when I left there I had like a 1.43. That’s what I left there. 1.33 something like that.

Vicki Davis (07:10)

Well.

Wow.

Byron Dean Tolson (07:18)

Vicki Davis (07:18)

Well, you know, there are a lot of folks in life who we all make mistakes and, but there’s very few that fight back and say, this is the direction. what was your self-talk like to get you um, the learning and just the work that was required to get to where you are

Byron Dean Tolson (07:23)

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

The first thing I had to do, Vicki, was believe in myself that I could possibly pull off the unimaginable. Because if you’re talking about 124 hours to graduate and you already then accumulated 80 hours of F grade on a 124 hour transcript, that’s unimaginable to graduate, right? Well, I had to be committed.

Vicki Davis (08:04)

Yeah.

Byron Dean Tolson (08:08)

and apply myself to pull off the unimaginable. And I did it. I’m the first person in American history to ever do

Vicki Davis (08:12)

Mm.

So go back in and what would you say to young Dean in fifth grade if you could talk to him now and intervene? Yeah, you Dean is a fifth grader. What would you say to yourself?

Byron Dean Tolson (08:28)

great.

Pay attention to whoever is up in front of that class and teaching you. Give your undivided attention to that person. Do not play around and goof off because it’s gonna come back and bite you in life later. I had this wonderful, lustrous career I played.

15 years of professional basketball and 15 years of amateur basketball and when it was all over I had nothing.

Vicki Davis (09:14)

You had nothing because you didn’t have an education, huh?

Byron Dean Tolson (09:17)

That’s it. Where do you go from here? That’s what I had. Where do I go from here? And so my mother taught me in doing this and going back to school in the book, read the book, she’d tell you, she hid my plane ticket, my passport, and my contract in the attic of the house and told me, you’re not getting it. You’re not leaving going back over there to Athens, Greece. You ain’t

Vicki Davis (09:19)

Wow

Wow

Yes.

Hmm. Wow.

Hmm.

Byron Dean Tolson (09:47)

I said, oh yeah, mother, I’m

And I ended up listening to her and enrolling in the University of Arkansas at 32 years old as a freshman and graduating at 36. And Sports Illustrated did a five-page story on my entire journey from illiteracy to graduation at the University of

Vicki Davis (10:07)

Wow.

I love that. I’m glad you’re telling your story. How have we gotten it backwards? Because I mean, when you talk to, that we haven’t, you know, you know this, we have a sports obsession in America. I don’t think we have an education obsession. How did we get it backwards and, and how can we shift it back in the, in the right order?

Byron Dean Tolson (10:14)

Thank you.

for the love of the game. I love living, eating, and breathing and playing basketball. I loved it. I did not love school. And that was a misnomer. I should not have done that. But hindsight is 20-20. And…

I learned from that mistake and that’s why I’m out here on this interview with you on this podcast trying to get this most important message to our kids because they need it now very badly. And they need to focus in math and science because that’s our weakness in this country, math and

Vicki Davis (11:22)

So if I could wave a magic wand and give you your wish of what this book would accomplish and the name of the book is Power Forward. What would be your dream for what could be accomplished with this book?

Byron Dean Tolson (11:29)

Uh-huh.

to put a cap and gown on every kid’s head in And you can, and I know you can do it because I did it and I was illiterate and all of y’all out there ain’t illiterate. I know you ain’t. So now it’s all about the attitude and the commitment to do it. That’s all you gotta do. And then you’ll be rewarded in ways you’ll never ever dream of. This book right here, Power

Vicki Davis (11:36)

Hmm.

Yeah.

Byron Dean Tolson (12:00)

That is the most proud thing I ever did in life. It wasn’t playing in the NBA. Believe me when I tell you

Vicki Davis (12:10)

Wow. You have such a great story, I just hope it gets in front of so many and kids and parents need to hear the story.

Byron Dean Tolson (12:13)

Then…

Everybody needs to hear it. This has been every home, every library, every school and institution for kids to learn from this experience that this is important in your

Vicki Davis (12:35)

Well, and you’re speaking as one who has been there. This is not somebody who couldn’t make the NBA saying this. This, this is somebody who did it and says, yeah, after I was done with the NBA, I went back to school because missed up, messed up the first time. I love that, Dean. Thank you for coming on the show. The name of the book is Power Forward by Dean Tolson. Thanks for coming on the show.

Byron Dean Tolson (12:42)

Yes. Thank you.

My website is, you go to

Vicki Davis (13:06)

Okay, thank you for coming on the show.

Byron Dean Tolson (13:08)

you have a wonderful rest of your day.