<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Baron Davis smiled, excited about the good news coming from UCLA. It was Sunday, 90 minutes before Davis' Golden State Warriors played the Lakers, a day after his former school clinched a trip to the Final Four ? and the last thing Davis wanted to talk about was basketball. Davis was hyped about his meeting with UCLA interim Chancellor Norman Abrams, who came to the Warriors' hotel earlier in the day to address Davis' concerns about declining African American enrollment at the school. This year, Davis and former UCLA football player Brendon Ayanbadejo formed a group called "We Should Not Be the Only Ones," whose name references the concern that an athletic scholarship could be the lone path to UCLA for African American high school students if things don't change. Something had to be done after this year's UCLA freshman class had fewer than 100 African Americans ? the lowest number in 30 years ? among the 4,700 new students. During the hour-long meeting with Abrams, Davis suggested funding inner-city programs and involving UCLA's extensive alumni network in awareness and mentorship programs. "He was really receptive to everything that we're trying to do," Davis said. "He wants to help, to make it a part of his initiative as acting chancellor." Ayanbadejo would like to see UCLA play host to high school students over the summer, teach them everything from biology to history in a college setting to educate and inspire. Because for now, the message the school is sending, intentionally or not, is that African Americans are welcome on the court but not in the classroom. Will the school produce another Ralph Bunche or Tom Bradley, or is it only interested in the next Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or Marques Johnson? Nine of the 15 basketball players (60%) are black. About 3% of the student body is. The disparity in the racial makeup shows how little the NCAA's tournament has to do with college. Teams play on the opposite side of the country from their campuses. Games start at 10 p.m. Eastern time. Those students who have the right combination of luck and cash to get tickets are usually relegated to the upper deck.</div> Source
