No turnovers with the Dribbler

LAKEVILLE — Corey Rich, who goes by the name Corey the Dribbler, visited the Grove in Lakeville on Thursday, July 23, and showed off his ball-handling skills for youngsters in the summer EXTRAS program (and anyone else who wanted to watch).

In January 2009, the Dribbler made it his goal “to be on the Harlem Globetrotters in three years.” He practiced ball handling for six hours a day in the gym to improve. He reached his goal and did it three years early, in 2009, when he tried out for the Harlem Globetrotters and made the team. 

In the 2009-2010 season he played part time, about 15 games. Following that, Rich was offered an opportunity to play in China, “with people I grew up watching,” he said.

In his performance at the Grove, the Dribbler encouraged audience participation, especially in the games.

The first game involved three audience members who tried to get the basketball away from him in 25 seconds. Before the match began, the Dribbler told the audience a little story: He had played this game 305 times, with no losses, over the course of four years. His streak continues after the two rounds at the Grove.

For the next activity, the Dribbler called up multiple volunteers to learn some of his tricks — or so they thought. One youngster said, “I’m finally going to be good,” after being called upon to join the others on the court. However, the volunteers were actually chosen to play a game called “You’ve Been Tricked” — a rather fitting name, as it turned out.

To start the game, the Dribbler had the volunteers position themselves in a circle around him. Next, he passed around the “golden ball,” a basketball painted gold, to show the players that it was just a normal basketball they could get at any sports store and not to deflate their expectations of the game or anything. Those would be the easiest passes the volunteers would receive for the rest of the competition.

The objective of the game is to be the last person standing after the Dribbler makes difficult passes to unsuspecting volunteers in the circle.

Some of the passes involved the Dribbler throwing the ball at the volunteers at odd angles. Another involved the element of fear, where he would quietly spin the ball on his finger and walk over to a volunteer. Once he was a couple feet away, he would shout and fling the ball toward  the alarmed victim.

The Dribbler told the circle, “I’m trying to trick you and I’m not to be trusted.” Some children took this advice very seriously.

The Dribbler walked up to one volunteer after an exceptional catch to offer a high-five. However, the child refused, for fear that the ball would be thrown at him while he was distracted.

Another time, the Dribbler tried to ask one volunteer if they had met before. The audience yelled, “It’s a trick!”

In the end, there was a tie between two of the campers and they were rewarded with signed photographs. The other audience members had to wait in line before getting a signature.