Best movies like Student Athlete

A billion dollar industry where athletes play for free.

A unique, carefully handpicked, selection of the best movies like Student Athlete Starring LeBron James, and more. If you liked Student Athlete then you may also like: 23 Blast, Wolves, The World's Greatest Athlete, Rebound, Jocks and many more popular movies featured on this list. You can further filter the list even more or get a random selection from the list of similar movies, to make your selection even easier.

Unveils the exploitative world of high-revenue college sports through the stories of young men at varying stages in their athletic careers.

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23 Blast

When a high school football star is suddenly stricken with irreversible total blindness, he must decide whether to live a safe handicapped life or bravely return to the life he once knew and the sport he still loves.

Wolves

Anthony Keller, star of his NYC high school basketball team, is riding his way to Cornell on a sports scholarship. But he can only maintain his popular jock facade for so long, as his troubled father Lee has a gambling addiction that threatens to derail his dreams both on and off the court.

The World's Greatest Athlete

Stuck with a feeble sports department, college coach Sam Archer (John Amos) faces the ax unless he can reverse the school's athletic fortunes. An African vacation with his assistant (Tim Conway) answers Archer's prayers when he spots the athletically gifted Nanu (Jan-Michael Vincent). Sam counts on Nanu's remarkable abilities to put the team back on the winning track. This upbeat farce boasts an impressive cast of comedians.

Rebound

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.

Jocks

The coach of a college tennis team is given an ultimatum: put together a winning team, or else.

The Air Up There

Jimmy Dolan is a college basketball coach who wants a big promotion. To get it, he needs to make a dramatic find. He ends up deep in Africa, hoping to recruit Saleh, a huge basketball prodigy Jimmy glimpsed in a home movie. But Saleh is the chief's son and has responsibilities at home, since the tribe's land is threatened by a mining company with its own hotshot basketball team.

The Basketball Diaries

A high school basketball player’s life turns upside down after free-falling into the harrowing world of drug addiction.

Blue Chips

Pete Bell, a college basketball coach is under a lot of pressure. His team isn't winning and he cannot attract new players. The stars of the future are secretly being paid by boosters. This practice is forbidden in the college game, but Pete is desperate and has pressures from all around.

The Real MVP: The Wanda Durant Story

Wanda Pratt works tirelessly to raise three children, including future NBA basketball player Kevin Durant.

Full-Court Miracle

Inspired by the true story of University of Virginia basketball star Lamont Carr, the film centers on a group of young Jewish basketball players who search for a coach to help them out of a slump. The main character Alex Schlotsky is inspired by the true story of Alex Barbag and Chad Korpeck.

Glory Road

In 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins led the first all-black starting line-up for a college basketball team to the NCAA national championship.

Coach Carter

Based on a true story, in which Richmond High School head basketball coach Ken Carter made headlines in 1999 for benching his undefeated team due to poor academic results.

The Comebacks

A comedy that spoofs the inspirational sports movies, The Comebacks tells the story of an out-of-luck coach, Lambeau Fields, who takes a rag-tag bunch of college misfits and drives them towards the football championships. In the process, this life-long loser discovers that he is a winner after all by redeeming himself, saving his relationship with his family and friends, and finding that there is indeed, no "I" in "team"!

The Hot Flashes

An unlikely basketball team of unappreciated middle-aged Texas women, all former high school champs, challenge the current high school girls’ state champs to raise money for breast cancer prevention. Sparks fly as the women go to comic extremes to prove themselves on and off the court, become a national media sensation, and gain a new lease on life.

Eddie the Eagle

The feel-good story of Michael 'Eddie' Edwards, an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself—even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach, Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics.

Love & Basketball

Monica Wright and Quincy McCall grew up in the same neighborhood and have known each other since childhood. As they grow into adulthood, they fall in love, but they also share another all-consuming passion: basketball. As Quincy and Monica struggle to make their relationship work, they follow separate career paths though high school and college basketball and, they hope, into stardom in big-league professional ball.

Shooting Stars

The inspiring origin story of a basketball superhero, revealing how LeBron James and his childhood friends become the #1 high school team in the country, launching James's breathtaking career as a four-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and the NBA's all-time leading scorer.

Division III: Football's Finest

This ensemble comedy follows the Pullham University Bluecocks, a small liberal arts college with a Division III football program (the lowest division in the NCAA). When the head coach unexpectedly dies, the future of the flailing football program is in jeopardy, as they have not had a winning season in decades. In a desperate attempt to create some media attention for the athletic program and the university, President Georgia Anne Whistler hires known lunatic and felon, Coach Rick Vice, for what could be the football programs final season.

Amateur

14-year-old basketball phenom Terron Forte has to navigate the under-the-table world of amateur athletics when he is recruited to an elite NCAA prep school.

The Sixth Man

A college athlete returns from the dead to help his brother's basketball team win the NCAA title.

Head Games

Former football player and wrestler Chris Nowinski's quest to publicize recent findings about the often dire consequences of head concussions sustained by athletes in contact sports — injuries that have previously been considered momentary setbacks and ignored in the name of toughness and dedication to the team.

One on One

Henry Steele is a basketball phenom at his small town high school, but when he matriculates to a big city university on a scholarship, soon realizes that he has few skills outside the sport. Expected by his coach to contribute significantly to the team, Henry is overwhelmed by the demands on his time, the "big business" aspect of college sports, and the fact that he never fully learned to read. Things look bleak for Henry when Janet Hays, a pretty graduate student, is assigned as Henry's tutor. Her intellect and strength lift Henry out of his doldrums just in time to battle the coach, who attempts to rescind Henry's scholarship.

Hoop Dreams

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Hoosiers

Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

The Program

Several players from different backgrounds try to cope with the pressures of playing football at a major university. Each deals with the pressure differently, some turn to drinking, others to drugs, and some to studying.

Safety

The story of Ray-Ray McElrathbey, a freshman football player for Clemson University, who secretly raised his younger brother on campus after his home life became too unsteady.

Hurricane Season

Based on true events amid the wreckage and chaos dealt by Hurricane Katrina; one basketball coach in Marrero, Louisiana just will not give up. Coach Al Collins, gathers other players from hard-hit schools and builds a team actually worthy enough to go to the state playoffs.

Sunset Park

A school teacher takes over a talented, but undisciplined high school basketball team and turns them into a winning team.

Overcomer

After reluctantly agreeing to coach cross-country, high school basketball Coach John Harrison helps the least likely runner attempt the impossible in the biggest race of the year.

1 Mile To You

After a teenager's friends die in an accident, he finds running allows him to remember them perfectly. Running, however, also brings him notoriety. He is caught between keeping the past alive and making new memories in the present.

State of Play: Trophy Kids

The growing obsession of parents in the scholastic athletic competition of their children is the focus of this first installment in HBO Sports innovative new documentary series. Each new edition spotlights a topic or person whose impact on the sports world is undeniable, opening with a brief overview, followed by a verite documentary and a roundtable discussion.

My All American

Freddie Steinmark, an underdog on the gridiron, faces the toughest challenge of his life after leading his team to a championship season.

College Coach

Ruthless Coach Gore creates turmoil at a college by hiring players and alienating students. Along the way, the coach loses his wife Claire Gore to a grandstanding player. Inside look at college football of the 1930s replete with fake grades, non-student players, and the importance of football to a college's reputation.

Out of Bounds

Travis Elliot, a star high school basketball player from Memphis, Tennessee must save his older brother but is torn between playing the sport that he loves or living a life of crime.

Believe in Me

In a conservative small town, a young man's wish to coach high school basketball are tweaked by a school board decision that makes him the new coach of the girls' team.

War Eagle, Arkansas

Based on a True Story War Eagle, Arkansas is a character-driven drama about a young man’s choice of whether to leave his family and friends for a career in baseball or stay and redeem his struggling community. The story takes place over a few pivotal weeks in the summer after Enoch Cass’s senior year, and is set against the backdrop of Arkansas’ beautiful Ozark Mountains. War Eagle, Arkansas poses important questions that face all young people in rural America. The answers we find could touch us all.

Greater

The incredible true story of the greatest walk-on in the history of college football.

Magic & Bird: A Courtship of Rivals

An exploration of the fierce rivalry between NBA superstars Larry Bird and Magic Johnson during their decade of dominance.

Full Out

Based on the true life story of California gymnast Ariana Berlin. As she zoned in on her Olympic goals, 14 year old Ariana Berlin's life took a sharp turn when she was involved in a debilitating car accident. Gaining her confidence and movement back through learning hip hop dance, she unexpectedly found herself called back to the gymnastics world thanks to world renowned UCLA Coach Valorie Kondos Field. With Val's help, Ariana was eventually able to secure a spot on the UCLA gymnastics team and win an NCAA championship, a lifelong goal that she had always dreamed of. This is a wonderfully inspiring story of persistence, confidence, and the heart and courage to make a somewhat impossible comeback in life.

Kobe Bryant's Muse

Documentary that goes behind the stats to reveal the story of Kobe Bryant's career, exploring the mentorships, allies and rivalries that have helped shape his stellar 18-year tenure in the NBA, and offering access to his daily experiences, his lifelong inspirations and the battle with his greatest personal challenge yet.

Fast Break

David Greene is a New York basketball enthusiast, who wants to coach. He is then offered the coaching job at a small Nevada college. He brings along some players, who are a bit odd but good. Like Swish who unknown to the rest of the team is a girl. Preacher, who's being sought by some nefarious characters. And D.C., who's a fugitive. And along with some of the students at the college, he turns them into a contender. In order to give the tam the respect they deserve and some exposure, Greene schemes to try and get the number 1 team led by Bo Winnegar, to play them.

Ping Pong Playa

Streetwise swaggering Christopher "C-Dub" Wang is a suburban guy who waxes political on all things Asian American and clings to pro basketball pipe dreams. But when misfortune strikes his family, C-dub must overcome living at home, working a dead-end job and his worldly older brother, to run his Mom's ping pong classes and defend the family's athletic dynasty.

Here Come the Co-eds

Molly, her brother, Slats, and his pal, Oliver, are taxi dancers at the Miramar Ballroom. As a publicity stunt, Slats plants an article about Molly claiming her ambition is to earn enough money to attend staid, all-girl Bixby College. Bixby's progressive dean offers Molly a scholarship. Molly accepts on the condition that Slats and Oliver come along too as campus caretakers. But the pompous Chairman threatens to foreclose on the school's mortgage if Molly isn't expelled. Together, the trio, with the help of some new friends, concocts a scheme to raise enough money to save the school. The plan involves a bet on the Bixby basketball team, which is playing in a game rated at 20 to 1 by the local bookie. But the bookie has other plans for their dough and hires a group of ringers to step in for the opponents. All is not lost, at least while Oliver has the chance to turn things around for his friends-one way or another.

Events Transpiring Before, During, and After a High School Basketball Game

As Middleview High School's woeful boys basketball team prepares for another certain loss, several unusual dramas take shape around its periphery.

The UCLA Dynasty

While the Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement and political scandal were consuming the nation, a basketball legacy grew in southern California. Led by coach John Wooden, the UCLA Bruins amassed an unprecedented ten NCAA titles in the 12 seasons from 1964-1975, setting a standard of excellence and consistency in a volatile country.

National Champions

A star quarterback ignites a players’ strike hours before the biggest game of the year in order to fight for fair compensation, equality, and respect for the athletes who put their bodies and health on the line for their schools.

The Mighty Macs

In the early 70s, Cathy Rush becomes the head basketball coach at a tiny, all-girls Catholic college. Though her team has no gym and no uniforms -- and the school itself is in danger of being sold -- Coach Rush looks to steer her girls to their first national championship.

Annie O

When a 15-year-old becomes the first female starter on her high school's male basketball team, her achievement is marred by the treatment she receives at the hands of her teammates, her brother and even her boyfriend.

Blood Sport

A searing commentary on the "win at all costs" mentality of American high school sports. David Lee Birdsong is the smalltown quarterback hoping to escape with a college scholarship and a pro career. David's father is the overbearing taskmaster vicariously living through his son. The third side of the triangle is Coach Marshall, a hypercritical and cruel man who sees David as the key to his future success. David's lockstep commitment to his father and coach is altered when he witnesses a teammate die after a grueling practice.

Stephen Curry: Underrated

The remarkable coming-of-age story of Stephen Curry—one of the most influential, dynamic, and unexpected players in basketball history—and his rise from an undersized college player to a four-time NBA champion.

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