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