The world premiere of the motion picture Hoop Reality was held on Thursday, November 1, 2007 at Newcomb Hall as part of the Virginia Film Festival. The main forces behind the film were all on hand in Charlottesville , including Arthur Agee, who ten years ago was one of the two teenagers whose lives were captured on film in the famous documentary Hoop Dreams. Agee, along with Damon Jones and Lee Davis – producer and director, respectively – watched the first release of the Hoop Reality with everyone in attendance, and then participated in a question-and-answer session moderated by the University of Virginia Director of Athletics, Craig Littlepage.

How the film came to be:

Arthur Agee didn’t set out to make another film after Hoop Dreams came out in 1994. He thought about it, but it wasn’t his life’s goal. Agee’s current occupation is founder and promoter of his clothing line, which he named after the documentary that gained him national recognition: he got exclusive rights to use “Hoop Dreams” in his company title. In trying to sell his product designs to major clothing manufacturers, his travels brought him to Los Angeles , where he met producer Damon Jones in the fall of 2004. The two got to talking, and the idea of another film came up.  

“I asked Arthur if he was up to try to do a film, and he said he had that idea too,” Jones said. “So we got together and we just started filming.”

Still, the idea of another Hoop Dreams type of documentary did not come right away.

“I was shooting around the idea of documenting my clothing line experience of me starting Hoop Dreams Sportswear: Control Your Destiny,” Agee said. “We didn’t think about everything [that would end up] in the film until we started filming.

Documentaries are unique because they aren’t scripted, but rather, they are like true reality television: they just follow the trials and tribulations of real life. And, as luck would have it, “real life” presented an opportunity for Agee to be on the other end of a basketball story similar to the one that featured him as a teen.

“The aspect where the basketball part of it comes back in is that I wanted to do the same thing the Hoop Dreams guys did for me,” Agee said. “I wanted to go back to my alma mater, and it just so happened that this guy named Patrick Beverly was there, and everyone was telling me he reminded them of me. So I wanted to expose him just like they did me. It was all done by God. You couldn’t plan this one. All the pieces fell into place.”

With that, Hoop Reality was born.

The movie:

It is important to clarify early that the second documentary featuring Agee is not intended to be Hoop Dreams II.

“It’s not really a sequel to the last one,” Jones said. “In this film we’re trying to get across to kids how hard it is to actually make it. For little kids, it’s drilled in their heads, ‘You’re going to go to the NBA, you’re going to make it to the NBA and you’re life’s going to be fine.’ But no one ever tells them how hard it really is to make the NBA. In the beginning of this movie, we come out with hard facts.”

Arthur Agee

Indeed, the film opens with Agee reciting some numbers for the audience. For approximately 157,000 high school seniors who play basketball, there are only 4400 college scholarships, which means only 3 percent of eligible athletes can take their game to the college level. After that, with only 60 picks in the NBA Draft – some of which are used on international players – the odds of playing basketball as a profession get even smaller. That’s why Agee, Jones and Davis wanted to produce this film, to let children know how hard it is to actually become the next Michael Jordan.

There are multiple storylines intertwined in the film, but the distinct focus is on Beverly, who at the time was a senior guard for the Marshall High School basketball team. Agee and Beverly started spending time together, and the film follows Beverly ’s progression on the court with his team. Throughout their journey to the state tournament, Beverly ’s mother – who acts as a “team mom,” and is a genuinely kind woman – sees an increase of scholarship offers and college coaches calling her, inquiring about her son’s future plans. The film makes viewers want to root for Beverly and the Marshall High basketball team, which ended up finishing third in the Illinois state tournament.

( Beverly , whose success as a senior lands him a scholarship from the University of Arkansas , is doing very well for himself in college. The following comes from www.hogwired.com, the official website for Razorbacks athletics: “The SEC newcomer and freshman of the year was second-team All-SEC, a first-team freshman All-American by CollegeInsider.com, a second-team freshman All-American by Basketball Times, a third-team freshman All-American by Rivals and CollegeHoops.net, second-team All-District 9 by the National Association of Basketball Coaches, second-team All-District VII by the United States Basketball Writers Association, a three-time SEC Freshman of the Week and named to the Old Spice Classic all-tournament team.” Not too shabby.)

The other storyline focuses on Agee’s life, and is split between his clothing line endeavors and catching up on his life. His father, who became clean after Hoop Dreams and began a new life as a pastor, was murdered, and his well revered high school basketball coach passed away as well. Agee has had to overcome many obstacles to be successful in life, but his triumphs send a strong message to the target audience of young basketball players.

“I didn’t make it to the NBA but look at what I’m doing now,” Agee said. “I’m fulfilling my dreams and controlling my destiny." 

What does it all mean?

While Hoop Reality answers the questions about what happened to Agee after Hoop Dreams, it’s greater purpose is to convey a John F. Kennedy-esque message to the disillusioned youths who think the sport is all they have in life: It’s not about what you can do for basketball, but about what basketball can do for you.

“We are trying to get a positive message out there for kids to use the basketball for other things, and don’t let the ball use you,” Jones said. “Let this ball take you places you’ve never been, to meet people, to get an education.”

The main concern for the trio behind the film is to create hope for young people in places where little exists, as they hope that basketball – which for some of these teenagers is the only bright spot in their lives – can carry them to bigger and better things.

“There’s a lot of desperation on the streets of the west side of Chicago , just like there’s that hopelessness in New York and a lot of other inner cities,” Davis said. “We want to inspire young people to do well.”

Ladies and gentlemen, that’s really what Hoop Realities is all about. 

-E.S.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

Notable Quotables:

“You have a better chance of winning an Oscar than making the NBA” – Damon Jones 

“It’s a terrible thing when you have an 18 year old kid say the only thing he can do is play basketball, and he thinks that’s what defines his life.” – Damon Jones

“There’s much more to life than achieving success in sports. That’s what this movie focuses on.” – Arthur Agee

“I was just trying to answer everyone’s question which was, What happened to that guy?” – Arthur Agee

Images courtesy: www.arhuragee.com 

Recommended Links:

http://www.arthuragee.com – Arthur’s website

http://imdb.com/title/tt0110057 - Hoop Dreams information

http://hooprealitythemovie.com – Official Hoop Reality website

http://www.vafilm.com/blurbs/hoop-realities - Info from Virginia Film Festival

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