Slam dunks, behind-the-back passes and alley oops were innovations of the Harlem Globetrotters. Now it's time for the 4-point shot.
The Globetrotters will stop in Muncie tonight as part of their "4 Times the Fun" North American tour. The team, in its 85th year, has added the 4-point shot for this season, which far exceeds the 3-point shot in distance.
"It's 35 feet from the basket. It's 12 feet beyond the NBA line," rookie Brawley "Cheese" Chisholm said. "It's a tough shot."
Chisholm, who graduated from Ball State in 2010 with a communications degree, joined the Globetrotters after a successful tryout.
"The Globetrotters, what they do is, they find the best basketball players that they can find at that given time and I got picked," he said. "The tryout is two hours playing basketball, five-on-five, nonstop. They want to evaluate each player. The Globetrotters pick great basketball players and I was grateful to get picked."
Scott Johnson, director of public relations for the Globetrotters, said the average season consists of about 400 games spanning eight to nine months. They travel all over the world, and this expansive touring gave Chisholm the chance to leave the United States for the first time in his life.
Chisholm said his favorite experience so far was during the team's military tour.
"It was the day after Thanksgiving. We flew out to Italy, and I went to seven different countries in two weeks," he said. "We went to the Air Force bases, the Navy bases, the Army bases. Basically it was just seeing their faces and just how happy they were to see us."
Nicknamed Cheese for his "signature smile," Chisholm has learned that being an entertaining Globetrotter requires around-the-clock practice.
"I practice basically as much as I can. I take my ball to my room after the game," he said. "You can work on it all day, really. There's no stopping on working on your tricks. There's no limit on how good you can get."
Johnson said the players are constantly collaborating on new tricks they can showcase throughout the course of a game.
While some maneuvers such as "the bucket of confetti" and "the string basketball" remain from the team's past, new tricks are always in the works. Innovation is something the Globetrotters take pride in.
"We've always been a unique team. We invented the 3-point shot. We invented the alley oop. We invented a whole bunch of things that every basketball player uses in today's game," Chisholm said.
Being in the public light as a Globetrotter makes Chisholm he appreciates his college degree.
"Ball State was terrific for me. It gave me the opportunity to get my degree in communications," he said. "Communications has helped me with my job ... with talking to kids and having public relations skills and everything. Ball State has really been a big factor in my life."
Although he does not remember Chisholm's Ball State career, Dan Byrnes, director of sports facilities and recreation services at Ball State, said he is anxious to have a alumnus return as a Globetrotter.
"I'm sure some people will be looking for him. We're excited for him that he's making a living a little bit playing basketball," Byrnes said. "I'm excited to see what role he plays in the Globetrotter lineup."
The Globetrotters have travelled to Ball State in the past, usually stopping by sometime during the basketball season.
"We try to do something every few years with them. They've been here before a number of times, so we think it's just good family entertainment for the community," Byrnes said. "It's an easy fit for us during the basketball season because it is just a basketball event for us, so from a set-up standpoint, we can slide them in and not upset our practices. We're happy to have ‘em."
The Globetrotters provide an appeal for not only Ball State students, but also families, Byrnes said.
"I remember seeing them as a kid when they had the real legendary personalities like Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal and some of those guys," he said. "When they had basically one squad touring the country and the world. Now they've got a number of squads doing Europe and other areas of the world as well as across the United States. They've celebrated a lot of years of success."
As for Chisholm, he said he hopes his story will serve as an example to Ball State students hoping to pursue a job that seems out of reach.
"Never lose sight of your dreams. If you love something and you're willing to fight for it, do it. Always keep that dream," he said.
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