Focus : Staying Power : PBS AIRING OF ‘HOOP DREAMS’ INCLUDES A REUNION UPDATE

When the critically acclaimed “Hoop Dreams” premiered at the New York Film Festival last year, William Gates was flabbergasted at the incredible outpouring of emotion it elicited from the largely white audience.

One of the principal subjects of this documentary about two African American teens trying to escape poverty via basketball, Gates never imagined that his life would help stir such a passionate reaction.

The New York premiere “was wild ,” recalls Gates. “When Arthur [Agee, the film’s other real-life protagonist] or me made a basket they would start clapping. When something was happening they didn’t like they would boo. You heard people in there crying. It was amazing. When they saw us in the theater with our families at the end of the film they stood up (and gave us a 5-minute ovation). We didn’t get out of that place ‘til about 4 in the morning. People just stayed to just talk.”

Airing for the first time on television Wednesday night on KCET, the three-hour “Hoop Dreams” is a trenchant film about the rigors and politics involved in big-time high school basketball. But it’s also a moving and revealing look at the day-to-day struggles of two low-income families living in the projects of Chicago.

Gates is seen in the film being raised by his single mother. Meanwhile, Agee’s drug-addled father is viewed moving in and out of his family’s life. Both mothers come across as loving and determined women who encourage their sons in their basketball ambitions. But they are also haunted by feelings of trepidation, realizing that only a lucky few ever realize the lucrative dream of becoming NBA players.

In a time of increasing racial division, “Hoop Dreams” (which caused controversy last year when it wasn’t nominated for an Academy Award in the documentary film category) has served as an important window on the lives of urban African Americans.

“It definitely breaks down stereotypes,” offers the personable Gates, now 23. “It exposes people to another realm. It’s like, ‘I can’t believe that’s happening in those inner-city communities.’ But it also shows how single parents do survive.”

Shot over a 4 1/2-year period, “Hoop Dreams” begins when Gates and Agee are 14-year-old basketball prodigies. Both are lured to the Catholic and mostly white St. Joseph High School by partial scholarships and the hope that they’ll become the next Isiah Thomas, the former NBA great who remains the school’s most famous basketball alumnus.

But the lives of the two young men quickly take different turns after they arrive at St. Joseph. Agee is deemed too small by the team’s boorish coach, Gene Pingatore. Agee is unceremoniously shipped out of St. Joseph when he can’t meet the school’s tuition. Conversely, Gates is pegged the team’s savior and quickly lands a financial sponsor, Patricia Weir, the president of Encyclopedia Britanica.

When Gates struggles to regain his top playing form after suffering a severe knee injury, his heart and character are attacked by Pingatore. “I guess every movie has to have a villain,” offers Gates. (Pingatore sued the filmmakers over the way he was portrayed. The suit was settled out of court.)

Gates says he has mixed feelings about his stay at St. Joseph. “I guess in a way you do and a way you don’t [feel exploited] because I don’t think you can be exploited for something that you want to do,” he says. “But at the same time they brought us out to this school to see if we could perform for them. And if we couldn’t, they were going to send us back. In that sense it’s definitely exploitation. That’s just wrong.”

Initially, Gates’ mother had reservations about the film project. She wondered if the three non-black filmmakers--Steve James, Frederick Marx and Peter Gilbert--were more interested in telling a human story or cashing in on a potential major college or pro basketball prospect. After her son suffered his career-threatening knee injury and the trio forged ahead with William’s part of the project, she realized their motivations were honorable.

“I just read an article where my mom said, “If I had known ‘Hoop Dreams’ was going to be this big, I would have had more parts in it,’ ” Gates says with a laugh. “That cracked me up when I read that.”

In the end, James, Marx and Gilbert became like extended members of the Agee and Gates families, he says. Still, when the filmmakers expressed a desire to continue the film to include the players’ college years, the Gateses finally put their collective foot down.

However, a 30-minute update will air immediately following the KCET broadcast of the film. “A Hoop Dreams Reunion” will reveal what has happened in the lives of Agee and Gates since the conclusion of the film. Full of unexpected turns, “Hoop Dreams” ends with Gates and Agee beginning their freshman years in college. “A Hoop Dreams Reunion” also will include an interview with the filmmakers.

Most recently, Agee was attempting to latch on with a team in the CBA, the NBA’s minor league. After a rather undistinguished college basketball career, Gates is due to graduate from Marquette University next month with a degree in communication. Now married with two children, he hopes to move into acting or sports broadcasting.

Gates says he began thinking of alternative careers after he hurt his knee in high school. Still, when he talks to youngsters with NBA aspirations, he isn’t discouraging.

“I stress to them how important confidence and self-esteem are,” Gates says. “I tell them, ‘Keep bouncing that ball, but bring along the education at the same time.’ ”

“Hoop Dreams” airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. on KCET.