Boo Williams and the Transformation of Youth Basketball (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781476695815)

Born and raised in Hampton, Virginia, Boo Williams became a nationally respected high school basketball player at Phoebus High School, earning McDonald's All-American honors and fielding several Division I and II scholarship offers. Boo committed to St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia, later taking his talents overseas, first playing in France and then in the fledgling Irish Basketball Association. Utilizing his knowledge of the global business of basketball, he created a grassroots program, the Boo Williams Summer League (BWSL), to train amateur hoopers for the competition they would face for college and professional roster spots.

Along the way Boo earned a Nike sponsorship and a place in the AAU Basketball hierarchy. Between 1982 and the present, BWSL produced two NBA number #1 overall picks, 21 NBA first rounders, 32 NBA and WNBA players, an NBA head coach, and several NCAA All-Americans in both men's and women's basketball. BWSL's impact is so great that Boo's hometown helped him construct a sportsplex in his honor in 2008. This book examines Boo's life to explain the growth of basketball into a global business with a solidified grassroots pipeline. Behind AAU, NCAA, NBA, and European leagues are men like Boo who labored as a player, coach, and program leader to grow the sport into what it is today.