The Designer: GEE (Gee as in "GO"), started living the life at the age of 3 when his mom bought his first basketball for Christmas. But before he really picked up the ball permanantly, he ventured off into the world of hip hop.

The Designer. The Breakdancer: His mom married and moved them to an apartment in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where at the age of 7, he picked up the art of breakdancing. If you're familiar with breakdancing, you know that it too, is a lifestyle. He started hanging out with a couple of kids that he met out at the bus stop. After school they would listen to music from then popular movies, Beat Street and Breakin'. They formed a group and began practicing dance moves everday after school. He and his crew then saved up enough money to get windbreakers and sweatpants that he would later design with spray paint and permanent markers. Their group name was the "Mall City Crew". Why?...because their neighborhood was behind a very popular Mall called Bon Marche Mall. He and his crew would walk / bike to nearby subdivisions to battle opposing crews. They won most of the battles, but lost a few. One thing that was always evident, was that the Mall City Crew's gear was nice! So nice, that after a battle an opposing crew member asked him to design their jackets.

The Breakdancer. The Basketball player: At the age of 11, his parents were doing better financially and decided to move into a house across town. It was about 30 minutes away from his crew, which made it nearly impossible to be a part of the team. Since he wasn't able to hang with the Mall City Crew anymore, his mentality shifted from the world of breakdancing to the world of basketball. It was at the age of 11, when he picked up the basketball for good. He started playing basketball with his friend at the Boy's Club, coached by his friend's dad. If you know anything about coach's and the coach's son, this meant that his friend shot every ball that he touched because his dad was the coach. Which happened to be every time down the court, because he was the point guard. Needless to say, the Boy's Club had lost 12 games straight going into the last game of the season. Since the coach's son shot the majority of the shots, family and friends would only come to the games to see their kid take a shot, much less make one. With the coaches son at point guard and jacking up every ball he touched, wasn't much room for opportunity for anyone else. With one game left in the season, the Winbourne Boy's Club were up against the second place team in the division. The Apaches!!! If you felt the intensity behind the name, you should! They had already lost to the Apaches by 20, so expectations were'nt too high. GEE never started in any games, didn't touch the ball and hadn't even looked at the rim while holding the ball in a game. It just didn't happen because of the instant offense they had at the point guard position (aka Coach's son)! Which explains the 0-12 record! Well in this game the Coach's son was having a "BAD GAME", nothing new. He was 2 for 20 vs. being 4 for 20, so his dad/Coach decided to take him out of the game and put GEE in the game. Immediately after entering the game, GEE was left wide open in the corner. After standing there for like 3 seconds and realizing that the coaches son wasn't in the game, he heard "Shoot the ball!"...so he did. It went in! His first shot and first basket for the whole year. To make a long story short, GEE ended up with 21 points and the Winbourne Boy's Club ended the season 1-12. He was lifted on the shoulders of the Coach and the team was treated to burger and fries at McDonalds. No Bullshhh...if you ever see GEE, have him tell you the story.

From playing basketball to living the lifestyle: His parents were on bad terms. His stepfather lost his job, which caused many arguements in the household. Needless to say, his parents went their separate ways. His mom decided to move back with his grandmother and in a years time, his mom got her own place and things were looking pretty good. Without a father figure in place, he grew up with the guidance of only his mother and grandmother. His mom began working two jobs to make ends meet, which was too much for her body and mind to handle. She often fussed at him for not helping out around the house enough. She also told him that he should quit playing basketball so much and get a job. He was always in the streets hooping, where he would spend countless hours running, dribbling and shooting jumpers in different neighborhoods. Then he would test his hardwork by venturing out to many of the bordering towns and cities. Why?...because like many youngsters hooping today, he didn't want his mom working two jobs for the rest of her life. No one in his family had ever been to college and statistics prove that many of the most talented basketball players don't even get a shot at the NBA, not to mention make a team. However, basketball has put many through college because of their talent. The NBA was his goal, but a college degree would do. With that in mind, there wasn't much time to do housework, but he managed when he wasn't hooping. You Think It's A Game?®

The Birth of Hooplife: One day in May of '91 after playing "Full Court 21" (Yep!, Full Court 21), he was hanging out with his brothers and friends. They were talking about how they spend the majority of their day hooping. All day, everday. Someone in the group said, "It's like basketball is our life!" A few more words were exchanged and the next day GEE had his mom buy a pack of white t-shirts and a permanent marker. He had been drawing on his clothes since 3rd grade, so this wasn't any different. He, his two brothers and friends rolled out the next day rocking Hooplife t-shirts to the courts in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The shirts were plain, white Fruit Of the Loom® T-shirts with "Hooplife" written on the chest with a permanent marker.

Other players already had respect for their game, but when they showed up with the Hooplife T's, dudes really understood why they had so much respect for their game. Basketball was their life! The t-shirts became the talk of every run. Not because of what they looked like, but because of what was written on them! The next time he and his crew showed up to play, there were other hoopers rocking T-shirts with "Hooplife" written across the chest! You think it's a game?®

Living the Lifestyle. The Hooper: In '92, GEE went on to lead his high school team to a 42-5 record, averaging 33 points and 6 assists per game. Even though he fell short of a state championship, he went on to play college basketball where he attended a Division 1 school out of high school.

During his freshmen year in college his grades became an immediate problem, because he got caught up in the college life. After completing one semester, he then transferred to a smaller NAIA School, where he could focus on his studies and hoop. During his sophmore year in '94 he heard a CD called THUGLIFE which featured an up and coming rap artist by the name of Tupac Shakur. On the album, Shakur made several references to the fact that he was a Thug and he lived the Thuglife! GEE wasn't a thug, but knew he was definately a hooper. Hence the name "Hooplife". Listening to this cd confirmed his belief in the Hooplife brand and he began sketching logo ideas for it. Even though the brand wasn't fully developed, everyone that heard the name knew exactly what it meant. He realized that this was the one word that really described the basketball lifestyle, which made him even more passionate about basketball. He entered the first 15 games of his junior year, 2nd in the nation in scoring, averaging 34.5 ppg. As the season went on, opposing teams caught on to his progress and made sure he didn't get off on them. Double teams, Box and 1 defenses, etc. He ended the season averaging 24 ppg. He came back to average 16ppg during his senior campaign and graduated in '97 with a degree in Design.

There's a lot more to the story, including basketball overseas, tryouts, getting cut, a 36 hour bus ride for a 2-hour tryout! You Think It's A Game?® That's what hoopers do!!! What you've read is a small piece of what he's experienced as a person, designer and hooper. What you've read is what hoopers all over the world go through and more, living the basketball lifestyle. It's because of his expeiences as a hooper and designer, that he and his team of designers are able to bring you the hottest basketball apparel brand in the world. The "ONLY" brand that truely represents "ALL" hoopers and the basketball lifestyle just by saying the name alone. He didn't create this brand. The hoopers did.

We would like to thank companies like Nike®, Adidas® and And-1® for bringing the seriousness of basketball, basketball players and the basketball lifestyle from the streets, onto the television and into the homes of millions on a national and worldwide level. Now it's time for us to finally give hooper's the brand that truely represents everything that these companies have made so clear.

Hooplife. You Think It's A Game?®