To provide stories of how successful Black males made meaning of their educational experiences and offer current students motivation for focusing on their education, I conducted a qualitative study of four successful Black males from an urban area bordering a large southern city. Successful meant earning a college degree. Data collected through using Seidman’s three-phase interview process was transcribed and then analyzed in MAXQDA software using in vivo, emotion, axial, and pattern coding. Sports, relationships, and goal setting were found to be the main reasons for academic success. However, seven themes were constructed from the data and presented as a counter-narrative: succeeding through sports, building relationships with school personnel, setting goals and positive attitudes for success, influencing others to succeed, learning from mistakes, choosing good people, and succeeding through friendships. A discussion of each theme synthesized participants’ experiences to provide ways these Black males perceived their success, to inform educators of beneficial experiences, and to encourage young Black men to finish their education. Institutional racism was experienced and exposed in the counter-narrative. Keywords: Black males, deficit thinking, counter-narrative, in vivo coding, axial coding, pattern coding, institutional racism