“Hoop Dreams” star starts clothing line & TV show

Arthur Agee, one of the two African American high school basketball stars of the classic 1994 Kartemquin documentary, “Hoop Dreams,” is back in the news with the launch of Agee’s new clothing line and a reality television show.

The clothing line, “Classic Hoop Dreams,” will launch with a challenge in memory of 17-year old African American Trayvon Martin of Miami, who was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

The “Trayvon Martin Hoodie 21 Challenge” recalls that the young man was wearing a hoodie pulled down over his head when he was killed.

“This year Trayvon would have been 21 years old, so everything with the challlenge, price of $210 and exclusive 210,000 number of garments are all associated with the number 21,” said Blake Anthony, a filmmaker, entrepreneur and friend of Agee and his partner in the Classic Hoop Dreams shoes and clothing line.

“In further honor of Trayone, our company will donate 25% of our earnings from the Hoodie and all items in Trayvon’s likeness will go to the Trayvon Martin Foundation’s Circle of Mothers, said Anthony.

The Circle of Mothers was founded by Martin’s mother, Sybrina Fulton, as an initiative to empower who have experienced the loss of a child, especially to gun violence. “The signing of Fulton took two years,” said Anthony.

Agee says he’s been waiting almost 20 years to be in a position like this to give back to the community and credits Anthony’s business and marketing savvy for helping make it happen.

Created and produced by James, Peter Gilbert and Frederick Marx, “Hoop Dreams” followed two gifted high school basketball players who dream someday of playing in the NBA for about five years.  Agee played for inner city Marshall and Gates for upscale St. Joseph’s in Westchester.

Currently in pre-production, the hour-long reality series, called “Life after Hoop Dreams” follows the career struggles and family lives of Agee, now 43, and William Gates, 45.

In the series Agee will be taped in the troubled Austin neighborhood on Chicago’s West Side where he lives with his family in a two-flat. He heads the Arthur Agee Jr. Foundation and works as a motivational speaker for inner-city youth.

William Gates, 45, had committed his life to preaching at a local church and working at the Kids Club, but moved to San Antonio to escape Chicago’s inner-city violence.