Don’t look at basketball players only as athletes, Hoop Dreams creator Steve James said.

James, an SIUC graduate, spoke to an audience of more than150 people Saturday night during a fund-raiser for the SIUC men’s basketball program.

James said the challenge for athletic supporters everywhere is to look at the ones who play basketball and look past them as players.

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The basketball dream is not really about basketball, he said. It’s really about wanting to have a little piece of the American dream that most of us take for granted.

The guys that come through here provide a lot to this university in terms of prestige and entertainment. They earn those scholarships and when they leave here, we as a larger community should try to see that we do everything we can to help them move on when basketball is over.

Hoop Dreams, touted 1994’s best independent documentary, follows the lives of Aurthur and William, two inner-city youths who are recruited into prep school to play basketball.

James said he hopes after viewing his film, young players walk away with the understanding that basketball is not the only thing in the world.

I hope young guys who are players do not come away with the feeling that they will make it to the pros, he said. There is lot more to it than just going out there and shooting hoops.

James applauded the efforts set forth by men’s basketball coach Rich Herrin to better education opportunities for players.

Herrin said the funds raised Saturday night go directly to the men’s basketball program.

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The money raised is used for men’s basketball, Herrin said. It’s used a lot for summer school and for a young man that needs the fifth year to graduate.

It’s also used to help us travel and charter our flights, He said. Instead of missing three days of school, players miss only one day of school.

If we go commercial we have to bus to St. Louis the day before, stay over that night and play the next day, so we miss three days of school.