Arthur "Man" Agee, Jr. (born October 22, 1972) is one of two Chicago-area high school basketball players whose lives were chronicled in the 1994 Kartemquin Films documentary, Hoop Dreams.

Biographie

Early life
Agee is the second child and first son of Arthur "Bo" Agee Sr. and Sheila Agee. During his younger years he lived in the north side Chicago area near where the other star of Hoop Dreams, William Gates, lived. By the time the movie began filming, the Agees had moved to the West Garfield Park neighborhood, which would remain Agee's home until his graduation. Upon graduation from grammar school in 1987, he was discovered by part-time, unofficial talent scout Earl Smith. Smith convinced the Agees to send Arthur to St. Joseph's High School, a private, predominantly white suburban school. St. Joseph's is the same school that Arthur's childhood hero, Isiah Thomas, attended. Since the school was an hour and half from his home, Arthur woke up at around 5:30 AM daily and took public transportation to reach his destination.

Early on in his high school career, when his parents were unable to keep up with the school's tuition payments, Agee had to leave St. Joseph's and instead attended John Marshall High School, an inner-city school. In his senior year, he helped the Marshall Commandos win the 1991 Public League Championship and finish third for the State Championship. Agee's high school was defeated by Manual High School that was led by future NBA player Howard Nathan. After graduating from Marshall, Agee starred at Mineral Area College and went on to play for two years at Arkansas State on a scholarship. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.


After College
Although Agee played at a Division I school, he never achieved his dream of playing in the National Basketball Association. In 1996, Agee turned down a contract with the CBA's Connecticut Pride to take a role in the film Passing Glory. In 2004, he launched a 'Hoop Dreams' clothing line with the slogan "Control Your Destiny". On December 15, 2004, his father, Arthur "Bo" Agee Sr., was killed while attempting to run from at least one robber. A Chicago man was subsequently charged by Berwyn police for allegedly accepting money to kill Arthur Agee Sr. The mission statement of the Arthur Agee Role Model Foundation is "to help underprivileged kids to understand that their role models are not professional athletes, but their parents at home".