Hoop DreamsHoop Dreams is the story of two young people who want to become basketball players in the NBA. Author Ben Joravsky wrote the book. The idea for the book came from the documentary film Hoop Dreams, which is a true story. Arthur Agee and William Gates are the names of the two boys who were followed from eighth grade to seventh grade to make the film. Arthur Agee was a 5'6, 125-pound guard from Chicago's playgrounds when St Joseph's recruiters saw him. Arthur was playing against a boy three years older than him and was still the best in the neighborhood. Arthur's parents, Bo and Sheila Agee, were very poor people who used cocaine and could not support their family. Big Earl, the boy who recruited Arthur, told his family that St. Joe's would be able to pay Arthur's tuition if he played basketball for them. Arthur went to St. Joe's and met William Gates. They had become friends in elementary school but had never really done anything together. In the end William turned out to be the better player and all the attention and money focused on him. Therefore, Arthur was expelled from St. Joe's in the middle of the school year. He was forced to enroll at Marshall, the local public school. As a result, Arthur could see his NBA dreams slipping away. He also couldn't keep his grades high enough to attend a Division I school. He and the Marshall Commandos ended up going downstate during Arthur's senior year. They finished third overall in the state. Arthur ended up attending a junior college called Mineral Area in Flat River Mississippi. After his two years at Mississippi, Arthur received a scholarship to Arkansas State. He finished his studies in communications and graduated. Arthur never realized his dream of going to the NBA, at least for now. As you can see, it takes a lot for a suburban boy to try to realize his dream, but most of the time it never happens. William Gates was also 14 when he was recruited to go to St. Joseph. Both he and Arthur had to wake up around 5:30 every morning in order to catch the subway and get to school on time..