Hoop Dreams Follow Up

My favorite basketball movie ever.

Although 2 hours long, when it was over I could not believe it and wanted more. I was blown away. Nice to see they are doing okay.

Hoop Dreams' film players remain friends; lives have diverged

Hoops stars no longer, the players featured in the 1994 film remain friends, though their lives have diverged

By Sara Olkon | Tribune reporter
November 14, 2008

Back on the court

William Gates and Arthur Agee, the stars of the 1994 documentary "Hoop Dreams," get into a game on the basketball court at the Living Faith Church in Chicago where Gates is the pastor. (Tribune photo by Nancy Stone / October 15, 2008)

It's a chilly morning and two old friends are supposed to meet for a game of hoops. The shy, steadier of the pair arrives early. The other, a fun-loving extrovert, arrives almost two hours late.

The tardy one, Arthur Agee, strolls into his buddy's office with a smile and talk of car trouble. William Gates immediately forgives him.

For more than a decade, the pair have been bound by unexpected fame. The two Chicago high school basketball players were featured in the 1994 hit documentary "Hoop Dreams." Now in their mid-30s, their contrasting fates may surprise the many people who saw the movie.

Gates, the reserved one, has become an authoritative force who leads a church in the Cabrini area. He is married with four kids. Agee, a spirited charmer, doesn't have a regular job but is launching a line of "Hoop Dreams" apparel. He has five kids by five different women.

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Two Chicago kids bound by Hoop Dreams fame Two Chicago kids bound by Hoop Dreams fame Photos
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2 men in film meet untimely deaths

"You ain't even Mr. Gates, now it's Pastor Gates," Agee said as the two men embraced.

Much has changed since filmmakers began chronicling their lives in 1987, when the 14-year-olds saw the NBA as their way out of poverty. Enduring close to three-hour commutes, the boys enrolled at St. Joseph High School in suburban Westchester as freshmen. The private Catholic school had famously launched the career of retired NBA point guard Isiah Thomas, whom both kids had long idolized.

Gates, a more promising player than Agee, blew out his right knee his junior year. A year earlier, his girlfriend, Catherine Mines, gave birth to a girl, Alicia. Gates was still able to accept a scholarship from Marquette University in Milwaukee, but the injury continued to dog him.

Agee left St. Joseph during the beginning of his sophomore year when his parents couldn't meet their share of his tuition. Devastated, Agee transferred to Chicago's Marshall High School in West Garfield Park. His team made it to the state finals his senior year.

After graduating from Marshall, Agee enrolled in Mineral Area Junior College in Flat River, Mo., and later transferred to Arkansas State University. He didn't graduate from college, but Agee played semiprofessional basketball. In 1996, he was offered a spot on the Continental Basketball Association's Connecticut Pride but passed it up because it conflicted with a part in a cable film by Steve James, director of "Hoop Dreams." Agee also had an uncredited spot in Spike Lee's 1998 film "He Got Game."

The teenagers knew each other casually before "Hoop Dreams" was made, but they grew extremely close over the five years of filming. They even had secret sleepovers at each others' homes, unbeknownst to the film crew.

"We were teenagers—we didn't want them knowing everything that we were doing," Gates said.

They predict their connection will last all their lives. Agee was one of the first people Gates called when his brother Curtis was murdered in 2001; Agee called Gates immediately after his father, "Bo" Agee, a West Side minister, was slain.

"At the end of the day, he's my guy," Gates said. "And I know he feels the same way." Agee credits Gates for being honest with him, even when it's about something he doesn't want to hear.

Still, they sometimes fall out of touch. In recent months, Gates couldn't reach Agee because his cell phone number had changed.

"Hey, stranger, where you been?" Gates said after they hugged last month, the day they met to play basketball.

Agee fed him a sly grin and gave him an extra-large T-shirt, part of his "Hoop Dreams" clothing line. The filmmakers granted Agee the rights to use the "Hoop Dreams" name. On the T-shirts, Agee added the slogan: "Control Your Destiny."

"My man ain't never been that big," said Gates' wife, Catherine, laughing.

Gates held up the T-shirt and joked that his three boys—ages 13, 10 and 5–could fit inside it.

Agee led his old friend outside to his rusty, white 1991 Buick LeSabre. In the back seat, Agee's pit bull, Cole, was anxiously pacing. Agee opened up his trunk, which had a stack of T-shirts neatly folded in a laundry basket, and handed Gates a handful of T-shirts in smaller sizes.

Agee lives in Bartlett, a northwest suburb of Chicago, with his girlfriend, Jennifer Genovesi, and their 8-month-old son, Devin. His four other children, Anthony, 16; Ashley, 16; Deja, 12; and Aiysha, 2; each live with their respective mothers. Agee said he pays more than $900 a month in child support and is often broke.

Things were looking more promising after "Hoop Dreams" made its debut. Because of the film, Agee was able to move his family out of their Section 8 two-flat into a bungalow in Berwyn. Both men said they earned roughly $150,000. But neither grew rich.

Agee gave up on basketball in 1997.

In recent years, he has focused on his Arthur Agee Jr. Role Model Foundation, a non-profit that works with underprivileged kids. He also starred in a documentary called "Hoop Realities." The film looks at Agee's attempts to launch the clothing line, follows a recent senior guard from Marshall and examines the difficulties of reaching the NBA. The film premiered a year ago at the Virginia Film Festival. Agee said the producers are working on getting a distribution deal.

A "Hoop Dreams" sequel is not in the works, said Peter Gilbert, a producer of the original film. But, he added, "Never say never."

Gates never banked on another film. Now a father of four living in Chicago's Austin neighborhood, Gates became the first person in his family to graduate from college, earning a communications degree from Marquette in 1999. He worked for three years as a program director of Community Economic Development Association of Cook County and considered law school.

He hit a low point after his brother Curtis' murder on Sept. 10, 2001, and spent much of 2002 unemployed.

"It was worse than the knee injury and not being able to play," he said of that period. "I felt powerless."

The grandson of a pastor, he decided to pursue a more spiritual path. In early 2003, the Moody Church offered him the job leading an evangelical church, Living Faith Community Church in Cabrini-Green. Gates remains there today.

Meanwhile, both men still play hoops for fun. Gates said his eldest son, William Jr., already is a better player than he was at his age.

"I don't tell him this, but he's really good," Gates said.

solkon@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hoop_dreams_14nov14,0,1636456,full.story