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provide talented, high school-aged basketball players in the
Chicago area with an opportunity to participate in a series of
tournaments around the country that provide players with exposure
to collegiate and professional talent scouts, and through the
success of his players, to establish and enhance his personal
reputation as a basketball coach and talent scout to the point
where he would receive a job offer from one of the major athletic
apparel and shoe companies.
Petitioner wished to model RBS after a number of similar
basketball schools currently operating around the country. These
programs are mostly run by former professional basketball players
as nonprofit entities. Due to their own celebrity, as well as
that of their players, some school directors have received
lucrative job offers from major athletic shoe and clothing
companies to serve as “advisory talent consultants”. In this
role, the team directors are responsible for spotting talented
players early in their careers so that the athletic companies
would be able to enter into lucrative endorsement deals with the
players after their school careers are over. It is not unusual
for these consultants to garner salaries in the six-figure range.
Petitioner recruited players for his team through word-of-
mouth, his own observations as a referee for high school
basketball games, and advertisements for tryouts placed in local
newspapers. Petitioner would hold tryouts for RBS each March in
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Last modified: November 10, 2007