An Introduction to the CKA SAVE Project and the Work We're Doing for Student-Athletes Nationwide

By Dr. Keith G. Adams, Ed.D., CMAA
President & Founder, CKA SAVE Project | President-Elect, The Drake Group | Host & Executive Producer, Odd Coaches Podcast | 2026 Drake Group Education Fund Exceptional Service Award Recipient

Let me start with something I have believed for over thirty years — something that has shaped every decision I have made as a teacher, a coach, an administrator, and an advocate:

Student-athletes are students first. And every system designed to support them must reflect that promise.

That conviction is the reason the CKA SAVE Project exists. Today, I want to give you — whether you are a student-athlete, a parent, a coach, an educator, a partner, or a supporter — a clear and complete picture of who we are, what we do, and why this work matters more right now than ever before.

Our Mission

The CKA SAVE Project, Inc. is a nationally recognized, independent nonprofit organization based in Silver Spring, Maryland. We are not affiliated with a conference, a governing body, a media company, or a corporate interest. Our only allegiance is to the students and families we serve.

Our mission is threefold — and every program, every grant, every conversation, and every piece of content we produce flows directly from it:

Building Better Students. Developing Better Athletes. Creating Better Futures.

We live by one simple guiding principle: One Goal: Balance. One Result: Success.

Founded in 2009 as the Coach Keith Adams: Student-Athletes Valuing Education Project, what began as a local initiative has grown into a nationally recognized force in student-athlete empowerment. We serve students from middle school through the post-graduate level — and the general student population as well — grounded in what we call the 100/100 Standard: the belief that academic excellence and athletic performance are not competing demands, but a unified standard of achievement.

Why I Created This Organization

I didn't arrive at this work from a boardroom or a think tank. I arrived here the same way most of my students do — through lived experience.

I was a student-athlete. I know what it feels like to be pulled between the practice schedule and the study hall — to be asked to perform at the highest level in two entirely different arenas simultaneously, while the systems around you seem built to support one at the expense of the other.

That experience drove me to spend over three decades in the field: in classrooms, on sidelines, in athletic departments, and behind the research table. I've coached basketball and soccer at Paint Branch High School in Maryland. I coached college basketball at Hood College in Maryland. I've served as a Certified Master Athletic Administrator. I earned my Doctor of Education in Organizational Leadership from Grand Canyon University, completing a dissertation on what actually motivates student-athletes to succeed — academically and athletically — at the same time. I authored Finding the Balance: My Personal Journey to Academic and Athletic Success, a curriculum-anchoring book built on 15+ personal stories and decades of field-tested methodology. I've presented my research at national conferences including the Black Student-Athlete Summit, Learning Forward, the Association for Middle Level Education, and the Black Doctoral Network. I am a Hall of Fame inductee at both Hood College and Paint Branch High School.

This year, I was honored to receive the 2026 Drake Group Education Fund Exceptional Service Award — a recognition that reflects not just my own commitment, but the commitment of every student, staff member, partner, and supporter who has invested in this mission. I also serve as President-Elect of The Drake Group, one of the nation's leading organizations advocating for the academic integrity of college athletics.

I share all of this not to impress you, but to make one thing clear: when your future is on the line, experience matters.

The Problem We're Solving: The Resume Gap

Every year, families spend thousands of dollars on recruiting services, travel teams, trainers, camps, and showcases. Coaches dedicate countless hours developing athletes' skills. Yet when it comes to the biggest decisions of a young person's life — choosing the right college, navigating the Transfer Portal, understanding NIL, balancing academics, preparing for careers, and transitioning after sports — too many student-athletes are expected to figure it out on their own.

Student-athletes possess the grit, discipline, and resilience every employer craves. But the grueling demands of training, travel, and competition make traditional professional development experiences nearly impossible to pursue. The result is what I call the Resume Gap — a professional readiness deficit that follows too many athletes past graduation, leaving people who dominated on the field suddenly benched in the job market.

For too long, we have told young athletes that success means earning an athletic scholarship. I believe we have aimed too low. A scholarship is only the beginning. The real goal is graduating with the knowledge, confidence, professional skills, and leadership ability to build a meaningful life. That is what it means to go beyond the scholarship.

We want students to earn degrees — not just offers. Careers — not just roster spots. Purpose — not just playing time.

Today's student-athletes face pro-level challenges without pro-level support. That has to change. That is why the CKA SAVE Project exists.

What We Do: A Complete Development Ecosystem

The CKA SAVE Project is not a one-size-fits-all tutoring service. We are a comprehensive, integrated development ecosystem — built on the SDS Framework: Structure, Discipline, and Support — serving students, families, coaches, schools, and institutions across the country.

Academic & Athletic Consulting

We provide individualized consulting for students, families, coaches, schools, athletic departments, and organizations navigating today's rapidly changing collegiate landscape. Whether the challenge is recruiting, the Transfer Portal, NIL, academic planning, or career development, we help families make informed decisions with confidence.

Our evidence-based academic systems include:

• Academic Skills Assessments
• Academic Monitoring tools — the Academic Baseball Card and Academic Monitoring Grid
• Front Loading strategies for proactive academic success
• Preventive School-Based Mentoring
• Self-Advocacy training

These tools allow us to identify not only struggling students, but what we call The Middle 50% — capable students who can achieve far more with intentional coaching and the right structure around them.

CKA 101: Finding the Balance

Our flagship holistic success curriculum is an 18-week course grounded in Self-Determination Theory and anchored by Finding the Balance. It is designed to help students develop academic habits, self-advocacy skills, a competitive mindset, and full-field awareness. Topics include athletic and competitive mindset, leadership, time management, financial literacy, communication, professional identity, career development, mental wellness, and the lifelong habits of success.

One simple principle drives every lesson: One Goal: Balance. One Result: Success.

The Find the Balance Grant

We believe schools should never have to choose between quality programming and budget constraints. Through the Find the Balance Grant, schools receive a class set of the book, the CKA 101 Course Guide, digital toolkit licenses, a $250 program stipend, and expert instructor onboarding — a complete, turnkey solution for middle schools, high schools, and university athletic departments nationwide that want to invest in their students without having to build from scratch.

The CKA Virtual Internship Program (CKA VIP)

This may be the most innovative program we have ever created — and the one I am most proud of.

Traditional internships simply do not work for most student-athletes. The CKA VIP is a fully asynchronous, grace-based professional development incubator designed specifically for elite student-athletes who cannot pursue conventional internships due to their athletic commitments. Our interns don't just participate — they lead. They build real portfolios, contribute to real organizational projects, and develop executive-level skills across four strategic pillars: Fundraising & Revenue Strategy, Marketing & Digital Presence, National Research, and Strategic Events.

Rather than asking athletes to find more time, we teach them how to maximize the time they already have.

This is the Game Changer.

The CKA Career Launch Academy (CKA CLA)

A high GPA does not always translate to genuine readiness for the analytical, research-based, critical-thinking demands of college and career. The CKA Career Launch Academy is an intensive, gap-year and semester-based experience that prepares students to think critically, solve problems, conduct original research, communicate professionally, and transition confidently — serving students from middle school through the post-graduate level.

The CKA Post Graduate Basketball Academy (CKA PGA)

Built for the NCAA's emerging Age-Based Eligibility Model, the CKA PGA is a bridge-year program designed to maximize academic, athletic, personal, and professional development before an athlete's eligibility clock starts. With a 1:4 staff-to-athlete ratio, a maximum roster of 14, 6–12 transferable college credits, and a weekly living stipend designed to teach real financial literacy, the CKA PGA is a serious developmental program for serious student-athletes in the Washington, D.C./Maryland/Northern Virginia region.

The objective isn't simply becoming a better player — it's becoming a better person.

The Balanced Student-Athlete Award

Too often, recognition focuses exclusively on athletic performance. Our national award celebrates middle school, high school, and collegiate student-athletes who excel in the classroom, in their sport, and in their community. Championships matter. Character matters more. This self-nomination award is open to student-athletes nationwide.

Research That Drives Real Change

The CKA SAVE Project is grounded in research — not opinion. As an independent researcher, I continue studying student-athlete motivation, NIL, the Transfer Portal, college athletics policy, leadership development, academic success, and student well-being. My doctoral research explored a foundational question: Is there a relationship between academic and athletic motivation — and if so, to what extent? That research became the blueprint for everything we now do.

Research should not sit on library shelves. It should improve lives. That is why our findings become presentations, publications, curriculum, podcasts, workshops, and practical tools that educators and families can put to work immediately.

The Odd Coaches Podcast: Conversation Over Confrontation

In an era when sports media has become too loud, too reactive, and too entangled in the conflicts of interest that come with corporate ownership, network affiliations, and league partnerships, the Odd Coaches Podcast was built to be something different.

We operate as an independent voice. No governing body owns us. No network dictates our coverage. No sponsor conflict shapes what we say or who we platform. That independence is not incidental — it is foundational to who we are.

Our approach is simple: Conversation over confrontation.

Where mainstream sports media thrives on hot takes and manufactured controversy, the Odd Coaches Podcast is built on depth, nuance, and the kind of honest dialogue that actually moves the needle for coaches, athletic administrators, educators, and student-athletes. The most important conversations in sports aren't always the loudest ones. They're the most thoughtful ones.

Since its founding, the OCP has grown into a global digital media network with 800+ episodes and 1,000+ videos — a year-round masterclass in leadership and coaching excellence, featuring a Cavalcade of Stars contributor team that brings unmatched perspective to every episode. Our weekly broadcast lineup includes:

• Top Shelf Tuesday — professional football strategy and leadership at the highest level
• Wind Up Wednesday — comprehensive coverage of men's and women's college and professional basketball
• Throwdown Thursday — the evolving landscape of college athletics, including college football, basketball, NIL and Transfer Portal trends, as well as administrative policy analysis

Through our OCP Global Access Initiative, we bring our audience directly into the championship events, media days, locker rooms, sidelines, and boardrooms where culture, strategy, and leadership decisions are made. Real conversations. Real leaders. Real impact.

If you are a sports professional, an educator, a parent, or a student-athlete, the Odd Coaches Podcast was built for you — free from the noise, the bias, and the conflicts that compromise too much of what passes for sports coverage today.

How You Can Support This Work

The CKA SAVE Project is a registered 501(c)(3) independent nonprofit, and the honest truth is simple: the reach of our mission depends on the support of people who believe in it.

Individual & Family Memberships

• Student Membership — $25/year | Resource library access, monthly newsletter, event discounts
• Family Membership — $75/year | Two student memberships + two private Performance Strategy Sessions
• All-Star Supporter — $250/year | Direct engagement and connection to national events
• Hall of Fame Circle — $500/year | Premier access to the organization and leadership team

Institutional Partners — middle schools, high schools, colleges, and universities — can bring our programs directly to their students, staff, and athletic departments at partnership levels designed to fit their context and budget.

Corporate Partners can align their brand with our mission at levels ranging from $2,500 to $10,000 annually, with naming rights, speaking opportunities, featured placements, and direct access to Dr. Keith Adams and the CKA leadership team.

And for those who simply want to make a direct impact: donate at www.ckasaveproject.org.

Every membership. Every sponsorship. Every donation funds programs that are changing the trajectory of real student-athletes' lives right now.

One Final Word

I have given over thirty years of my life to this work because I believe — I know — that when student-athletes are properly supported, they don't just survive the college experience. They thrive. They lead. They go out into the world and become exactly the kind of professionals, citizens, and community members we all need.

The CKA SAVE Project is that support system. This is the infrastructure. This is the team. And we are just getting started.

Whether you are a parent, educator, coach, athletic director, university leader, corporate partner, or someone who simply believes that education and athletics can transform lives — there is a place for you in this movement.

Partner with us. Bring our programs to your school. Support our research. Sponsor a student. Invest in the next generation of leaders.

Together, we can build a future where every student-athlete is prepared not only to compete — but to lead, serve, and succeed long after the final whistle blows.

Because at the CKA SAVE Project, we believe one simple truth:

One Goal: Balance. One Result: Success.

We are building better students. Developing better athletes. Creating better futures.

I invite you to join us.

Dr. Keith G. Adams, Ed.D., CMAA
President & Founder, CKA SAVE Project
President-Elect, The Drake Group
Host & Executive Producer, Odd Coaches Podcast
2026 Drake Group Education Fund Exceptional Service Award Recipient

www.ckasaveproject.org | [email protected]
@ckasaveproject | @oddcoaches

One Goal: Balance. One Result: Success.