Go Away With … Matthew Salesses

“The Sense of Wonder” is a revelatory book that takes a humorous look at pop culture, while also pointing out the inherent racism that pigeonholes minorities into what they can and cannot be. Matthew Salesses’ latest novel incorporates two of his interests: basketball and K-dramas.

Go Away With … Carlos Watson

“I live in sunny Mountain View, California — the best place on earth,” says Emmy Award-winning journalist Carlos Watson. “It’s home to Google, Linkedin, What’s App, 23 and Me and, of course, OZY!” As the CEO of OZY, Watson takes pride in producing programs such as “Third Rail with OZY.”

Go Away With … Jessica Breland

Born in New York and raised in North Carolina, where she played basketball for the Tar Heels, Jessica Breland has overcome so much to get to where she is today. The summer before her senior year of college, Breland was excited thinking about all the places she wanted to visit before school started. Instead, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma and spent the next half-year undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

Go Away With … Sasha Goodlett

WNBA center Sasha Goodlett currently plays for South Korea’s Woori Bank Hansae. “Adjusting to the culture and the language barrier was challenging,” says the 24-year-old basketball star. “It’s hard trying to understand someone when they don’t know English and you don’t know Korean. But, I am learning Korean! So, hopefully by the end of the year I will be relatively fluent in it.”

Go Away With … Gary Forbes

Born in Colon, Panama, and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Gary Forbes had basketball on his mind when he was growing up. When he discovered he had Type 1 diabetes, he worried that it would derail his NBA plans. But, with the help of his diabetic father, he learned to navigate his way around his illness. After brief stints with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Houston Rockets, the 28-year-old athlete last played for the Chinese Basketball Association’s Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. Forbes’ latest project is TypeOneTwo.org, an online forum he created to help young people learn how to live full lives with diabetes.

Realism takes leap in hoops games

March Madness nears its close this weekend with the matchups of the Final Four men’s college basketball teams, with only one emerging Monday night as the NCAA titleholder. Hoop dreams don’t have to end, though. Thanks to hardworking video game programmers, another season is as nearby as your video game system.