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ANOTHER HOOP DREAMS TRAGEDY

	MAILBAG Seth Davis will periodically answer questions from SI.com users in his Hoop Thoughts column. Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

I was saddened recently to learn of the death of Arthur "Bo" Agee, whose son, Arthur, was one of the protagonists in the 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams.

Bo Agee was shot fatally during an apparent robbery attempt behind the family's home in Berwyn, Ill., on Dec. 16. The tragedy resonated with me because I spent an afternoon and evening with Bo in that very home last July for a story I wrote for SI's annual Where Are They Now issue. Sadly, this is the second time tragedy has struck a member of the Hoop Dreams family recently. Curtis Gates, the older brother of the other player featured in the movie, William Gates, was killed in a carjacking in 2001.

During the five years chronicled in the movie, Bo was in and out of his family's life as he battled drug addiction, but based on what I saw during our visit it was apparent that he had stayed clean and was the bedrock of the family. He grilled up some food and chased his grandkids around the house. One of the little girls had a cold, and I recall Bo sitting her on his knee and tricking her into taking her medicine by pretending to take it himself.

One of the most famous scenes in Hoop Dreams takes place, naturally, on a basketball court. Arthur was playing with his friends when his father wandered by, hoisted a few shots with him, then bought cocaine in full view of the camera (not to mention Arthur and his friends). When the producers showed the Agees the movie for the first time, Bo saw the scene, rewound it and watched it again a few times and said, "I can't believe you got that!" Everyone laughed.

It's ironic that that scene has proved so memorable, because Bo had no memory of it. "I was zapped out of my mind," he told me. "People still say to me, 'I know you, you're the dope fiend.' I can't get angry at them because I was." Bo could have told the producers to cut the scene, but he never did. As he explained it, "My bishop said, 'Let them put that in. Let the world see what God can do.'"

I only met Bo for a few hours, but because of the movie I felt like I knew him well. I'll miss him.

OTHER HOOP THOUGHTS

• Notre Dame didn't just score an upset Sunday by beating Connecticut, it may have found a new identity. The Irish have been far too reliant on outside shooting (or in Chris Thomas' case lately, outside missing). But Torin Francis had arguably the best game of his career against the Huskies, going for a season-high 19 points and seven boards against the best defensive frontline in the country. Francis also had 19 points and a season-high 13 rebounds in a loss at Villanova last Wednesday.

• Devoted Hoop Thoughts readers (both of you) may recall that I have long advocated the idea of having a woman coach a men's college basketball team. Now we know of at least one who's qualified and available: Ashley McElhiney of the ABA's Nashville Rhythm, the first female coach of a pro men's team. She was fired on Saturday after a dispute with the obnoxious team owner (who was also a woman). As I've said before, I see no reason why men wouldn't listen to a woman coach (after all, she'd control their playing time), and it would be great publicity for the school.

• Good to see oft-injured Villanova center Jason Fraser make his return in the win at Rutgers on Saturday. Fraser had four points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes. If he can stay healthy and become effective, 'Nova is a Sweet Sixteen-caliber team.

• I like 'em both, but it's hard to see those perennial hot-seat sitters, Pete Gillen and Steve Lappas, surviving again. I don't know what's worse, Virginia getting blitzed by North Carolina in front of a full house at home, or UMass losing at home to Richmond with just over 3,000 people in the arena.

• There's just no question now that Patrick Sparks is Kentucky's best and most important player.

• The score of Gonzaga's 91-79 win at home over Portland is misleading. There were 11 ties and six lead changes in the game, and the Zags led by just four points before going on a 9-0 run in the last 2 1/2 minutes.

• Can everyone please stop saying Luther Head is underrated? Nothing about Illinois is underrated, and certainly not him.

• Pitt's recent surge is due partly to two players who almost never played until recently: Levon Kendall, a 6-9 sophomore forward and 6-2 freshman Keith Benjamin. They combined for 19 points in the comeback win over Syracuse.

• Indiana guard Bracey Wright is 3-for-35 from 3-point range in road games this season. Just thought you should know.

• Hard to figure how Temple could lose at Fordham by 13 on Saturday after it beat the Rams by 32 two weeks ago.

• This week's player who's better than you think: Louisville guard Larry O'Bannon. You know about Taquan Dean and Francisco Garcia, but O'Bannon has been just as potent and consistent.

• J.J. Redick is having a fabulous season, but if anyone on Duke deserves all-conference and all-American consideration, it's Shelden Williams.

• Speaking of which, I don't know why people say Wayne Simien won't get player of the year because of his thumb injury. The guy missed only four games, and he's an absolute beast.

• I hear Jim Boeheim says Syracuse will only go as far as its top sophomores (Louie McCroskey, Demetris Nichols and Terrence Roberts) will take it. If that's the case, the Orange are in trouble, because I don't sense any of those guys are ready to break out.

• Why does losing P.J. Tucker hurt Texas so much? First of all, Tucker gave this team its maturity and toughness. Rick Barnes paired freshman Daniel Gibson with Tucker during fall individual workouts, just so Gibson would learn how to compete. Second, while Texas is a very good 3-point shooting team, Gibson is the only guard who can create his own shot off the dribble. Everyone else is catch-and-shoot, which means they need a post player who can force defenses to sag. Tucker was that player.

• I'm not saying teams can't improve between now and the end of the season, but we're getting to the time of year where whatever you are, you are.

• Nice move by Eddie Sutton starting freshman JamesOn Curry in place of Daniel Bobik on Sunday at Colorado. Not only did Curry respond by scoring a career-high 22 points (giving the Pokes a badly-needed perimeter scoring complement to John Lucas), but Curry also did a good job defensively on Buffs freshman Richard Roby. Roby had 12 points in the first half, but after Sutton sicced Curry on him he only had two more points.

• As far as I'm concerned, Arizona's loss to Washington State says more about this team than its win over Washington did.

• Speaking of Washington, I think it's great the Huskies have five players averaging double figures, but they need Nate Robinson to play a little more like a superstar. Robinson scored 20 or more points in six of their first eight games. He had done it only once since then before he went for 23 in the win at Arizona State.

PICKOFF GAMES

I entered last weekend trailing the readers by three games, but thanks to my sterling 7-3 week, I made up some ground against Yoni Cohen of Arlington, Va., who went 5-5. (Admittedly, I benefited from a couple of squeakers with Kentucky nipping Arkansas and Notre Dame edging UConn.)

See if you can increase the readers' lead by predicting scores -- not just winners -- of the following 10 games for the coming weekend. Give me a few sentences explaining your pick of the featured game, and be sure to include your full name as well as your hometown. Then check back Friday to see if we used your picks.

Featured game: Georgia Tech at Duke

Other games:
Notre Dame at Syracuse
Boston College at Seton Hall
Stanford at Arizona
Louisville at UAB
Michigan State at Iowa
Iowa State at Texas
Texas Tech at Oklahoma
Alabama at Florida
Cincinnati at Charlotte
George Washington at Temple