Javier Wallace, "Basketball Trafficking: Stolen Black Panamanian Dreams" (Duke UP, 2025)

Oct 26, 2025

Javier Wallace, a former Division I athlete and scholar, delves into the troubling world of basketball trafficking in his new book. He highlights the vulnerable journey of international student-athletes, particularly Black players from the Global South, navigating exploitation and deceit. Wallace shares his personal experiences, interpreting the F-1 visa system's role in this crisis. He calls for critical reforms to protect young athletes, shedding light on the systemic issues that often leave them powerless and exploited.

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ANECDOTE

Meeting Tito At The Airport

Javier recounts meeting Tito at Dallas airport and seeing him again in Panama after his U.S. student visa was denied.
That opening scene frames the book's personal, real-time stakes and emotional urgency.

INSIGHT

Defining Basketball Trafficking

Wallace defines "basketball trafficking" as exploitative, unregulated youth migration tied to F-1 visas.
The term reframes sports recruitment as a migration and labor problem, not just athletics.

INSIGHT

Many F-1 Students Are K–12 Boarders

About 80,000 F-1 visas cover K–12 students in the U.S., often placed in boarding-like schools.
Sport adds a recruitment layer but follows familiar boarding-school migration patterns.

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Every year, hundreds of international student athletes arrive in the U.S. chasing their basketball dreams — many on F-1 student visas. But for some their journey turns into exploitation.

Basketball Trafficking: Stolen Black Panamanian Dreams (Duke University Press, 2025) uncovers how dreams are sold, manipulated, and in some cases stolen — especially for young Black athletes from the Global South. This book offers a powerful call to action for educators, institutions, and sport leaders to safeguard the next generation of hoopers.

Rooted in his own experience as a distinguished former Division 1 college athlete and an alumnus of a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Javier has a unique perspective on the significance of sports in cultural and social movements. He procured his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from Florida A&M University, followed by a PhD from The University of Texas at Austin, where he delved into the intersections of race, culture, and athletics.

Javier’s expertise has led him to prominent roles, including serving as a Fellow at Harvard’s AfroLatin American Research Initiative, a University of Pennsylvania & University of Birmingham (UK) Immigration Fellow, and a Postdoctoral Associate and Professor at Duke University. His scholarly work has been recognized with accolades, such as the Harvard ALARI Best Dissertation on an Afro-Latin American topic in 2020 and a Preservation Merit Award from Preservation Austin.

Javier has been featured in numerous media outlets such as TEDx, The Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, Vice Sports, ESPN, and CNN, marking him as a distinctive voice in his arena. His dedication to shining a light on the unsung heroes who have transformed sports into a stage for empowerment and social change remains unwavering. A committed traveler and cultural enthusiast, Javier continues to connect and promote these remarkable stories of resilience and triumph wherever his journey takes him.

You can find Javier online, on Instagram, and at LinkedIn.

Find Host Sullivan Summer online, on Instagram, or on Substack, where she and Javier continue their conversation.

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