Why is the setting in The Outside Shot by Walter Dean Myers important to the story?

In my
opinion, the setting of this book is important because it helps to set up the main conflict in
the book.  This is, in my opinion, a sort of "fish out of water" book as well as a
"coming of age" book.  The setting helps with both of these.

The
setting is Montclare, a college in the Midwest.  Lonnie is a black kid from Harlem.  This means
that he is totally out of his element out at this small school so far from home.  He has to
figure out how to live with all these new pressures of being away from home, in a new setting,
and having to play big-time basketball.

Because the setting is so different
from where Lonnie grew up, it helps force him to grow up.