Slump: D-Bow High School Hoops

by Kevin Waltman

Things were supposed to change for sophomore year. Things were supposed to be—I don't know—easier somehow. At least with Jasmine. Instead it's more of a struggle than ever. At least last year when she was with Nick Starks I knew where I stood.

Derrick Bowen's sophomore year is a grind. He's been looking forward to the basketball season all summer, but his girlfriend Jasmine leaves him for putting too much focus on basketball. The promise his Marion East basketball team showed at the end of last season isn't materializing. And the sweet jumper D-Bow worked on all summer just isn't falling. When Derrick's father is severely injured in a car crash, Derrick is faced with a new reality where basketball can't be his only priority.

Audible Audio

Published January 20, 2026

About the author

Kevin Waltman was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and spent his teens and twenties in Indiana--time spent mostly around basketball courts and political events. He moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2001 to get his MFA in fiction at The University of Alabama. There, he met his wife, Jessica Kidd. He now lives in Coker, Alabama, with Jessica, their daughter Calla, and their dog Henry. He teaches. He writes. He gardens. He cuts kudzu from their woods.

He is the author of four y.a. novels. The first two are Nowhere Fast and Learning the Game. The two most recent--Next and Slump--are the first two parts of a four-part series from Cinco Puntos Press. The third in the series, Pull, will be out in late 2015.

You can see more about Kevin, or find teaching guides to some of his work, at kevinwaltman.com..