How AND1 Basketball Star Grayson Boucher Met God: ‘Spiritual Transformation’
By Movieguide® Contributor
Known as “The Professor” in the basketball industry, Grayson Boucher joined Christian rapper Lecrae on his “Deep End” podcast to talk about his spiritual journey.
“I remember I had a Bible class, and I remember at the end of one of the classes, I asked my homie who was like raised Christian — he probably was Christian, he was like embarrassed to talk about — I was like, ‘Is Jesus actually real?’ I don’t know why. I must have been listening. My whole run in school, I ain’t listen to nothing, you know what I mean. Like literally homework is due, and I’m like, ‘We had homework?'”
“I just only thought about hoops, you know what I mean,” he continued. “So, it’s funny. But I was tapped into this hour this guy was talking about Jesus, and I was like, ‘Is this real?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’
“But that was it. I remember like I didn’t think too much past that,” Boucher added.
At that point, he viewed his faith as an “ethic code” with “just a bunch of rules to follow.”
His faith faded to the background as he pursued his basketball career, basing his identity and worth in the game. If he played well, he was on top of the world. If he played badly, his whole worth was gone.
Eventually the AND1 basketball league ended, and Boucher had no place to play. He was left without a job, money or purpose.
However, a friend invited him to join a church basketball league, and he eventually found his way back to church through that. But it wasn’t until one of his best friends passed away that he really began to reflect on how faith could change his life.
“It forced me to ask bigger questions of life, for the first time really,” Boucher said.
From that moment on, Boucher experienced a “spiritual transformation,” as Lecrae described it, that changed his life forever.
He would turn from the professional basketball scene and focus on his purpose of helping young hoopers develop their skills and chase their dreams.
“I really want to start spreading the gospel,” Boucher said previously. “Not exactly preaching, but using basketball as a tool to bring people to Christ.”
One way he does that is through his Crossed Up University program, a monthly subscription for people who want to develop their skills in the court.
“…From the old school to the new school to current day, outside of God sustaining me, a huge part of what has got me through has been the dedication to perfecting the craft. Looking forward to igniting a new generation of hoopers on that same wave with Crossed Up University,” he posted on Instagram.
Movieguide® previously reported on Boucher:
In the world of sports, the NBA is the mainstream basketball league, but back in the day, another league was becoming popular.
The AND1 Mixtape Tour began in 2002 with “Legendary streetballers such as ‘Hot Sauce’ and ‘The Professor.’”
These players would “would go from city to city, court to court to challenge the greatest streetballers in one-on-one’s, entertaining fans and providing much of the footage for the ensuing Mixtapes.”
For many years, “AND1 dominated the summers” with all the games “televised live on ESPN under the name ‘Streetball’ and competed with ESPN’s SPORTSCENTER for the highest ratings.”
Player Grayson Boucher, nicknamed “The Professor,” joined the league in 2003. Boucher never played in a league like this before and knew it was going to be a big adjustment for him.
“I think, like, certain environments had me a little shook and then not knowing how to act like,” Boucher said on the “Deep End” podcast with Lecrae. “Like, we’d play in a lot of arenas where there was no white people in the city. So, like, you know, you want to be cool, so I’m like what does that look.”
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