Failed college coach Norman Dale gets a chance at redemption when he is hired to coach a high school basketball team in a tiny Indiana town. After a teacher persuades star player Jimmy Chitwood to quit and focus on his long-neglected studies, Dale struggles to develop a winning team in the face of community criticism for his temper and his unconventional choice of assistant coach: Shooter, a notorious alcoholic.

Lisa is a student, pretending the sick not to go to school. Her parents are worried about her health and call the doctor to examine her. He realizes her lies but he covers her. Soon, they fall in love and eventually get married. However, after the honeymoon she begins to yearn school and her classmates and she returns to it without saying anything to her husband. Soon, her husband begins to suspect her because of her frequent absences from home and her secret meetings with the professor seem to confirm his suspicions.