This paper describes an effort to provide prospective teachers opportunities to better understand African American male students and better focus on how they learn mathematics. Prospective teachers spent 15 hours over an eight week span mentoring and tutoring African American males without the guise of practicing teachers. Qualitative data drawn from reflective journals, culminating papers, and metaphoric illustrations were used to analyze outcomes from the project. What is most evident from the data is that prospective teachers steadfastly sought to unearth the Hidden or UnMet Potential (HUMP) possessed by their students rather than submit to being judgmental and condemnatory. Evidence provided by the participants demonstrates the promise of mechanisms that afford prospective teachers opportunities to get to know African American males and use that knowledge to inform their instruction. Thus, prospective teachers' field experiences should be situated within a context that provides them the autonomy to adjust curriculum in a manner that authentically integrates the experiences of African American males.