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ABM · 01-28-2005, 12:04 PM

Louis Williams

Heh, my boss just told me that South Gwinnett's Louis Williams is so friggin' good that the high school is now starting a service in which, for $1000, you can get reserved seating, a parking spot, and beverage service for every home game.

High school, folks, High school.

ABM · 01-28-2005, 12:47 PM

Here's the story from the AJC. Due to needing a subscription, I already contacted them about posting the article in its entirety.

Quote:

Louis Williams' legacy will be one of region and state championships, raining three-pointers and windmill dunks. But the economic windfall the South Gwinnett High basketball phenom has generated might be of even greater impact.

Williams, who recently had his silver braces removed, has gone platinum.

By the time his four-year high school career is over in March, Williams will have been largely responsible for bringing nearly $140,000 to the school in increased ticket sales, fund-raising, equipment and expense-paid trips.

Some South Gwinnett fans pay $1,000 a season just to be assured a reserved parking spot and seats for the team's home games. The school has signed a Nike shoe contract and will play on ESPN 2 next week.

Williams, who has shown maturity beyond his years on and off the court, said he and the team are kept away from the financial aspects of the program.

"I know we're banking some money for the school, but we try not to put it on that platform," Williams said before Tuesday's game against Berkmar.

"Obviously we realize that we bring a lot of people in here, we sell a lot of tickets, and we do a lot for the school. But we really don't think about it and really don't take any graces for it."

The most visible evidence of Williams' impact may be the Platinum Club, a group of local sponsors who paid $1,000 each for guaranteed seats behind the Comet bench, reserved parking, and food and drink in a long hallway dubbed a hospitality suite.

The Platinum Club generated $23,000, freeing the basketball players, both girls and boys, from the mundane fund-raisers of selling soda, candy, fruit, clothing — or poinsettias, a decadelong tradition at Brookwood, South Gwinnett's Snellville rival.

Williams — considered by talent scouts to be the best high school basketball player in the country and a possible NBA player next year — has created such excitement that fans seeking tickets have shown up 11 hours before tip-off.

The school is experiencing record gate receipts — almost $6,000 per game this season — that are nearly five times higher than before Williams arrived.

Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick, rapper and record producer Jermaine Dupri and rap artist Bow Wow all have come to see Williams play. "Louis is my man," Vick said last month as he watched Williams and company beat Meadowcreek High by 32 points.

Financial bonanza

Recognizing a blossoming superstar in Williams two years ago, Nike showered South Gwinnett with a three-year contract — worth roughly $35,000 — that provides the team with sneakers, basketballs and apparel down to the socks, and a discounted rate for the school's other sports teams.

Ticket sales have shot through the roof, with sales at a recent home game against Grayson topping $9,000, a full season's take for many schools.

"I can tell you we're in better financial shape this year than we've ever been before," said Patti Finkenhoefer, co-president of the South Gwinnett Tipoff Club.

More than 2,000 fans typically squeeze into the South Gwinnett gym to watch the highlight show put on by Williams, fellow guard Mike Mercer — both of whom have committed to the University of Georgia next year — and a solid supporting cast ranked seventh in the country this week by USA Today.

At Comets games, home or away, seats are a precious commodity. Williams has proven to be as prolific a moneymaker as he is a scorer. In the 2000-2001 season, the year before he arrived, South Gwinnett's average gate was $1,171. This season's average has hit $5,834.

"Louis has put us on a level of basketball in the four years that he's been here that this school has never seen and may never see again," head coach Roger Fleetwood said. "I think it's safe to say that it would take something really unusual to ever have a player like Louis, not only in this high school, but maybe ever in this county. He's the No. 1 player in the country. How many times is a county ever going to have that?"

For its Feb. 3 appearance on ESPN 2 against Arlington (Va.) Country Day at the Gwinnett Arena, South Gwinnett will receive $2,500 plus one dollar from every ticket sold through its athletic department, according to the contract with Paragon Marketing Group. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained a copy of the agreement after filing an open records request.

South Gwinnett athletics director Phil Davidson said the school will take a financial hit on the ESPN 2 game, making less than it would for a home game.

Supply and demand

While the Comets enjoy the fruits of their success, some worry about the prospect of business and profit-seeking creeping into high school sports.

Charlie Hood, head basketball coach at Marietta, has reservations about the Platinum Club. Hood, in his 33rd year at the school, said his program survived pretty well by selling ads in programs and holding a couple of small fund-raisers.

"High school is not a business like college and pro," he said. "Let's just say I wouldn't do it here. I'm not going to criticize anybody else; it sounds like a great moneymaker. But I'm not in favor of doing it at my school."

Brookwood athletics director Dave Hunter applauds South Gwinnett's Platinum Club. "If you've got a product and can market the product, more power to you," he said. "You're not marketing one kid or two kids, you're marketing for all the kids. What's wrong with that?"

Fleetwood certainly agrees.

"It's supply and demand," the coach said. "Why is it different than anything else in America? There was a demand, so we supplied something that would take care of that. No one put a gun to their head and made them join the Platinum Club."

But will they join next year when Williams and Mercer are gone? Don Britt, a Platinum Club member, said he will. A former South Gwinnett player and 1985 alum, Britt said the school is "near and dear to my heart," and he joined the club to assure a seat at the games.

"It's just a community that is trying to support a basketball team, boys and girls, and give them the things they need," said Britt, whose family business, Summit Chase Country Club, also supports Parkview, Grayson and Killian Hill Christian schools. "It's just a new way to give businesses a way to come to the game and show support for the team."

Tipoff Club co-president Chuck Hewatt said boosters realize things will be different next year. Will Comet basketball players be selling fruit, as their baseball brethren have done, or onions, which were hawked by the football team?

"We don't have a clue," Hewatt said. "With Louis and Mercer gone, that is definitely going to hurt us. I don't know what that entails with our Platinum Club sponsors. I hope they all come back and support us, but nobody knows if they will or not."

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