Coach Dru heads the bare-bones club team Northeast Ohio Shooting Star in order to help his speedy but short son Dru "Little Dru" Joyce III play basketball. He overcomes limited resources, its worn linoleum- floored Salvation Army gym, racial tensions and the fact that many of his key players have stressful home lives and makes them on-court champions. When the Shooting Star boys, Joyce's son, LeBron James, Willie McGee and Sian Cotton, known as the Fab Four, attend the small Roman Catholic school St. Vincent-St. Mary and team up with fellow player Romeo Travis to become the Fab Five, Coach Dru also comes along first as assistant and than as head coach.

 

Coach Dru always dreamed of being a basketball coach and with the help of the Fab Five, he brought three state championships, and a 2003 “USA Today” ranking of the country's best high school team to the small Akron high school. Like the boys, he also fulfilled his dreams and that's the inspirational message of “More Than A Game.” 

Dream big. Stand behind your friends. Anything is possible, even in the modest neighborhoods of Akron, Ohio.

 

Co-writer and director Kristopher Belman is an Akron native who first worked on “More Than A Game” while a senior at Loyola Marymount University. Belman makes good use of his complete access to James and his teammates. More importantly, despite James' on-court heroics, Belman and writer Brad Hogan understand that sports is just part of the heartfelt Fab Five story. In fact, the most amazing on-court play belongs to Little Dru and his hot, 3-point shooting streaks. Off court, Belman makes full use of key interviews and archival footage of the high school play. “More Than A Game” has more than enough sports excitement to please the ESPN fan base. Yet, the film's best moments tale place away from the slam-dunks, perimeter shooting and aggressive defense. “More Than A Game” hits the emotional bucket when Willie McGee recounts escaping the Chicago projects and being taken in by his older brother Illya, when LeBron talks about his mother and how she struggled financially to raise him, when Coach Joyce opens up about the true purpose of coaching.

 

Currently, there are numerous stories about LeBron, including his own memoir "Shooting Stars" but nothing compares to “More Than A Game.” Belman emphasizes the friend over the basketball phenomenon and shows how a coach fulfilled his dream by helping young boys learn to become good men.

 

Distributor: Lionsgate

Cast: LeBron James and Sian Cotton and Dru Joyce III and Willie McGee and Romeo Travis and Coach Dru Joyce II

Director: Kristopher Belman

Writer: Brad Hogan

Producers: Interscope Records, Picture Machine, Harvey Mason

Editor: V. Scott Balcerek

Rating: PG

Running time: 91 mins