Sports Illustrated on TV: CBS “Evening News with Scott Pelley” (tonight at 6:30pm ET/PT) and “The Early Show” (tomorrow 7-9am ET/PT)

Sports Illustrated collaborated with CBS News to produce a special report called “Gangs in Sports” that will be broadcast tonight on the CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley (6:30-7:00PM, ET/PT) and tomorrow morning on The Early Show (7:00-9:00AM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. CBS News chief investigative correspondent Armen Keteyian and Sports Illustrated special contributor looks into the dangerous influence that gangs have on major college athletics.

As part of the initiative – the second such partnership between Sports Illustrated and CBS News, following the March 7 cover story “Criminal Records in College Football” – Benedict and Keteyian co-wrote a feature story in this week’s Dec. 5 issue profiling one football star and his determination to avoid the pitfalls of gang life in his hometown of Compton, Calif. The write-up for their story is below.

SPECIAL REPORT: GANGS AND HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

With gang activity in the U.S. growing at an alarming rate, the long-held tradition of leaving high school athletes alone no longer applies. To understand the life-and-death decisions these athletes face, special contributor Jeff Benedict and CBS’ Armen Keteyian traveled around with Kitam Hamm, a running back-safety at Compton (Calif.) High. Hamm is on pace to graduate with a 3.8 GPA and is being recruited by Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and UCLA (among others) thanks largely to the structure and support provided by his parents, Kitam Sr. and Donyetta. Says Donyetta: “We live in Blood territory, and there have been a lot of murders here. We don’t let Kitam go anywhere without permission. He comes home from football practice, and we eat together as a family every night. Then he does homework. He’s not allowed out after dark. He has a very structured life.”

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