An incarcerated basketball coach and his undefeated team promote a self-help group.
Resident Jeremiah “JB” Brown, head coach of the San Quentin Warriors, created the team “94 Feet” to cultivate a positive reputation for an identically named anger management and conflict-resolution self-help group that he has created.
“These players on 94 Feet are popular on the yard. People see them play ball and look up to them. They see them play for 94 Feet and want to be involved. This will allow them to get involved,” said Brown.
Brown’s idea came from his observation of the way the young players behave on the court. He said he witnessed them using life skills in the game, but not in their daily lives. While they played, he saw discipline, teamwork, patience, determination, and accountability in abundance, but off the court, the players did not use these skills to their full potential.
From talking to his team, Brown learned that they did not attend groups because they did not feel they fit in with the participants. Brown then decided to create a group whose members can learn self-help by using their love for the sport as the starting point.
Brown collaborated with Jarrod Williams to make the group a reality. Together they worked on the curriculum and created 94 Feet to raise awareness.
“Currently we are trying to get an L-Tag to make the group official. Bill Epling agreed to be our sponsor, we’ve got the bylaws written, now we are just waiting for that L-Tag,” said Williams. “It was JB’s brainchild; I just helped him raise it.”
So far, 94 Feet has achieved a record of 16-0. Winning three tournaments and three intramural league seasons. Recently, additional teams have been created from the original 94′ feet East, for the players who did not make the cut..
The OG team currently has only three original players: Keyshawn Strickland, Tyler Cooper, and Taiosisi “Sisi” Matangi. The rest of the team consists mostly of players from San Quentin Warriors.
“94 Feet will be for anyone, but its primary purpose is for people in sports,” said Brown. “We are going to be touching on all genres. We use sports as a base to connect and grow as men.”
