Latimer High is completely different to Carver in almost every way. For one thing, it has much higher academic standards. Not only that, but its students are more committed to arts than sports. Latimer's demographic make-up is also a world away from Carver's. Whereas all the students at Carver are black, nearly all of Latimer's student body is white.

However, as Latimer High is located in the South Bronx, an overwhelmingly African American neighborhood, it makes strenuous efforts to diversify its student intake—and Slam is one of the beneficiaries of this outreach program. As part of its growing commitment to racial diversity, Latimer participates in basketball tournaments with predominantly black schools. This means that once Slam has transferred from Carver to Latimer, there's a sense of inevitability that he will play basketball for his new school against his old one.