At the end of December 2004, the Tuohys become Michael’s legal guardians. College recruiters expecting Michael to be a poor, black kid are surprised to find a well-connected rich kid with no evident needs and “a warrior princess” guarding him (134). In the five months between the start of his senior year and the Feb. 1, 2005 deadline for committing to a college, Michael is surrounded by people “intensely interested in what college he chose to attend” (134). NCAA rules prohibited recruiters from officially visiting Michael, but he could speak to them by phone.

Leigh Anne worries how Michael will cope at college without the support system he has at home. Michael lacks life experiences, which Leigh Anne attempts to address, but he keeps running into endless “quotidian details of upper-class American life” unfamiliar to him (140). Having seen Sean parlay athletic success into wider financial success, Leigh Anne wants Michael to achieve the same. To do so, she believes he will need to be comfortable in the world of “white Christian entrepreneurial Memphis” (141). Leigh Anne says Michael absorbs everything he is taught. His grades improve, and Leigh Anne extends her influence in his life. Michael begins to feel confident in the Tuohys’ love.