Kansas City, Miss., is one of my favorite places in the world. I have friends there that I respect, and I've grown to appreciate the African-American community in that city. One of the things I noticed about Kansas City is that there are both reasons for despair and hope that provide tremendous promise. One of those lights is a student by the name of Kelvin Duley (pictured above).

Duley was part of a team at De LaSalle High School, which invented an electric car that can travel 300 miles per gallon. Last month, Duley said he wanted to grow up to be a professional basketball player. Now, he says he wants to become an engineer. This experience has changed him for life.

It was by expanding his horizons that Duley was able to help do something that the best scientists in the world have been unable to accomplish. His team worked together with a teacher, Steve Rees, to conduct the experiments and then put the electric car on the road. The car wasn't just a raggedy, slow hunk of metal. It is a former 2000 Lola Indy race car that the team rebuilt using electric components. They also gave the car a lighter body, a driveline and an electric-propulsion system. It was tested at the Bridgestone's Texas Proving Ground, where the world records were confirmed.

I love the story of Kelvin Duley and his classmates. Of course, Kelvin didn't complete this task on his own, and there's no doubt that the instructor played a crucial role in this project; however, the impact that this work has had on the confidence and mind-sets of these students is remarkable.

Kelvin's remarks, regarding how he has realized that he can be more than a professional basketball player, sends a message to every young black genius across America. If you are smart enough to understand the Xs and Os on the basketball court, you are also smart enough to analyze medical charts, legal documents or just about anything else.

"I guess if I've learned something, it's that there's nothing wrong with trying something outside of yourself," said Duley.

Kelvin didn't give up his dream of playing basketball. He simply makes it clear that he is supplementing his dream with something else that can be just as lucrative. The average career of an NBA or NFL player is relatively short compared to those who enter in to other professions.

I had a friend who was a professional baseball player, and he shocked me by telling me that he would trade places with me in a second. He explained how he'd given up nearly all of his education to become a professional athlete, where the money comes fast and the career ends just as fast.

On the other hand, I can do my job and run my company for the next 40 years without a single ankle twist, stress fracture or torn ACL. The goal is not to say that sports is a bad thing, it's just to say that we must all work to expand the mind of the African-American male. Our entire reality should not be defined by sports, hip-hop and illegal activity.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.