A long way from the North Carolina tobacco farm where he grew up, college basketball standout Wayman Britt captained the University of Michigan Wolverines to the NCAA title game in 1976.
It had always been his dream to play the game he loved, and the Wolverines fit the bill. After realizing one dream, Britt set his sights on another. And another.
Britt didn’t let his poverty-stricken environment in the North Carolina Jim Crow era of racial discrimination dissuade him from envisioning a bigger world and a better life.
"My family were hard workers. We grew up in the south when a lot of times, there was no hope of anyone getting off the farm. Fortunately for me, however, I had the opportunity to go to Boy Scouts camp in Rocky Mountain, North Carolina, and that's where I had this idea of going to college," Wayman explained.
Wayman says he was just one of two children from his school that had the boldness to ask God to allow him to go to camp.
"I got on my knees one day at church and prayed hard until tears flowed out of my eyes, and that was the beginning of my journey."
In his new book, Fulfilling the Dream: My Pathway to Leadership and Finding Purpose in Serving Others, Britt shares his account of growing his skills through life experiences. Following his successful careers in college and professional basketball, he grew into a management role for an international company and later rose to an administrator for one of Michigan’s largest counties. Along the way, he became a dynamic leader and role model in the communities he served.
Britt candidly tells of the hard work, determination and faith in God that propelled him through challenges, disappointments and setbacks. He takes readers through his quest to open up the American Dream to people long excluded and relates lessons and experiences of competing at the highest levels in athletics, corporate culture, government and politics to some of the most sensitive cultural issues of modern times.
Fulfilling the Dream is a tale about pursuing dreams, realizing them—and then dedicating one’s life to helping others.
Today on Connections, Wayman shares how he is using his story to inspire others.