Foul Trouble by John Feinstein (review)

Feinstein puts his Sports Beat series on hold to offer a slightly older audience a page-turner on the underbelly of college basketball recruitment. Terrell Jamerson, a rising senior, is in the national spotlight, with scouting reports hyping, “There’s not a high school gym in America that can hold him.” Coach Wilcox, whose son Danny is a more modestly talented player and Terrell’s best friend, puts together a summer team to compete at a high-profile camp and promote his star player. Wilcox is far from naïve, but even he isn’t prepared for the onslaught of promoters, boosters, and hangers-on, many of whom could effectively derail Terrell’s career by showering him with illegal offers of pro riches in his future. By the time the real season is well underway, Danny is enjoying a few nibbles from college scouts and Terrell is under impossible pressure, complicated by some serious second thoughts after watching another star player become paralyzed after some showboating. There’s really nothing here that thoughtful readers of sports scandals haven’t heard before, but laying it all out in a work of fiction offers a visceral evocation of just how difficult it is for a highly recruited player to keep his grades up, his ego in check, and his moral compass steady. As always, Feinstein does a lot of real world name-dropping, but he assigns the most dastardly ploys to a fictitious basketball program. Readers, of course, can speculate on which college he really has in mind, while fans of Volponi’s The Final Four (BCCB 3/12) will find this to be a winner of a read-alike.