Bobby Belleville (right) and Peter Simon with the Wichita State University Wheatshocker mascot.

 

Thirteen-year-old Bobby Belleville said the Savvis Center basketball court seemed smaller when he was working right on the court. Bobby and thirteen-year-old Peter Simon represented YSL.com as ball kids at the Missouri Valley Conference men's tournament.

The two works two quarter-final tournament games on Saturday, March 2. The boys are eighth-graders at LaSalle Springs Middle School in Eureka.

Bobby said, "The court looked smaller than when we play basketball. That's probably because the college players are so much bigger."

That was one of the impression the boys got while doing their ball kid duties. Those included retrieving balls for the college players during warm-ups and wiping the floor if players collided and fell.

Asked about the experience, Bobby said, "I'd like to do it again."

The boys also got a chance to talk with the referees about the pace of the college game. Bobby said, "They talked about the physical aspects of the game. The play was very physical."

The two games the boys worked involved Southern Illinois-Carbondale's win over Bradley and Southwest Missouri State's win over Wichita State. SIU-C got to the finals but lost to Creighton University.

Creighton was awarded the conference's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament. But, SIU-C got an at-large bid to the 65-team tourney. So Bobby and Peter got a chance to see a national tournament team, up close and personal.

For more about the YSL.com ball kid selection, see an earlier story by clicking here. YSL.com hopes to offer other opportunities for its readers to participate in big-time events.