Filmed over four years, from the dilapidated cement courts of Senegal to upscale American prep schools, ELEVATE documents the extraordinary personal journeys of four particularly tall West African Muslim teenagers. Recruited for both their physical and academic skills, they accept basketball scholarships to schools in the United States--and face the daunting challenges of alienation, a foreign language, American-style basketball and an unfamiliar American culture rife with African stereotypes. But with courage, humor, and remarkable resilience, they relentlessly pursue their dreams--to obtain an education and a shot at the NBA.