Friend in need at tourney

Most NBA coaches invest in stocks, money market accounts, real estate and commodities futures.

Then there's George Karl, who invests in his community's youth.

The former Seattle SuperSonics coach is out of work for the moment. But the longtime NBA mentor has never forgotten what basketball has done for him.

That's why Karl writes a five-figure check every summer, so 50-plus kids can spend it dribbling, passing and shooting while picking up a few tips on life along the way.

You might say Karl is a Friend of Hoops.

"This is great," Karl said while watching one of the four appropriately named "Friends of Hoop" teams he sponsors play at Green Valley High School during the The Big Time basketball tournament. "This is quality competition.

"I like watching the kids. I like hearing who's being recruited."

For someone like Karl to be involved isn't surprising. He remains an ardent supporter of his college alma mater, North Carolina, and he's usually decked out in some sort of Carolina gear.

He does several speaking engagements at the summer camps of his coaching friends. He's a regular at Rick Majerus' camp at the University of Utah, where a couple thousand kids get to hear his words of wisdom.

Sonny Vaccaro, a lifelong friend of Karl's and the man who founded The Big Time four years ago, said, "He's a child of basketball. He truly loves the game. Other than his family, this is his life -- basketball.

"George told me two years ago he was going to do this. He saw the kids didn't have the money to play and he picked up the tab. A lot of guys say they're going to write a check, but George did it. He knows how important the exposure is for these kids."

When Karl was growing up in the 1960s, these all-star tournaments didn't exist. Specialized basketball camps like "Five-Star" were still in their infancy. To get any kind of exposure, a kid almost had to be on a high school team that was good enough to go to the state tournament.

But today, kids like Karl's son Koby, a ninth-grader in Seattle, played over 100 games per year.

"It's so different from 20 years ago," Karl said. "But with that growth comes some bad. You have the move toward individuality. You have the move toward the spectacular. There's less stressing the fundamentals."

One man can't move mountains. But part of Karl's commitment to Friends of Hoop is to take an active role. He sits down with each of the four teams and talks about commitment, of dedication, of the importance of doing well in school. Grades are part of the Friends of Hoop equation.

As Karl puts it, "We have a lot of student-athlete mentality with the program."

The teams also do community projects, such as food drives.

"I'll spend an hour with each team and we'll just rap about various things," he said. "We'll get in a room together and talk. I enjoy it."

The fact that Karl is who he is doesn't hurt getting the message across.

"I think they might listen to me a little more often," he said with a smile. "I think kids always want to be better. They always want to improve."

And giving the 50-plus Seattle-area kids the exposure they've had this past week may very well be the vehicle they need to work hard, both on the court and in the classroom.

With 300-plus coaches in town to watch the 224-team tournament, there are plenty of opportunities to impress.

Still, Karl, an old-school guy from Pittsburgh, would like to see the high school coach play a more prominent part in a kid's basketball future.

"It seems like we're getting away from the high schools," he said. "These summer tournaments are great. But I still think the high school coach should be more involved."

Watching his teams fills an important void for Karl. He is unemployed after the Sonics fired him last month. And with the NBA mired in a player lockout and no quick resolution to the conflict foreseen, this is pretty much Karl's hoops fix.

"Right now, I think it's sit out a year and wait for a good situation," Karl said. "I've put a lot of years in. It might be fun to step back.

"The longer you're in it, the more people think they know you, but they really don't know you."

Karl said there are no offers pending from anyone. But his life is good. He gets to play golf, spend time with his family, relax at his place in Idaho and watch some high school kids from the neighborhood hoop it up.

And regardless of what his NBA future may hold, Karl said Friends of Hoop will be around.

"We're going to keep it going for at least the next couple of years," he said.

He might as well. After all, why pull the plug on a sound investment?

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