The village that built Texas A&M's Shemar Turner

There was no phone call or parent-teacher conference, just a letter that Nakita Turner found in her son Shemar’s backpack stating her third-grader couldn’t return to the AW Brown Leadership Academy. His behavior had landed one too many office referrals.

It hurt her badly, but Nakita kept that letter for a long time. She’d pull it out and remind Shemar of that letter’s existence at every stage of his life, from when he became a five-star defensive tackle at DeSoto to an All-SEC selection at Texas A&M. Shemar Turner would be more than what they thought he’d be.