Hoops is the sixth romance novel in Patricia McLinn’s long-running Wedding series, originally published in 1990 by Harlequin press and then reissued in 2010 by McLinn herself. The plot revolves around the initially contentious relationship between a stuffy professor forced to be the academic adviser to a group of college athletes and the newly hired basketball coach who sees the team as a stepping stone to a more prestigious coaching career. Carolyn Trent is an academic phenom. Though only in her late 20s, she is already a tenure-track professor of English at Ashton University, a small and prestigious East coast institution of higher learning. Her meteoric rise through the ranks of academe has meant actively choosing not to develop any interests or personal life outside of her job. But she isn’t simply fueled by ambition – rather, there are some childhood scars that also propel her along her path. Ashton University has been pursuing an expansion of its sports program – in particular, its men’s basketball team has just stepped up to the top division in college sports. Snobby intellectual Carolyn is fundamentally against this move, since in her eyes college sports detract from the research mission of the university. She assumes that any students playing college sports at that elite level have no interest in getting an education, and are instead only trying to leverage their time at Ashton toward a career in professional sports. When Carolyn returns from a high-level conference overseas, she is dismayed to find out that her colleagues have thrown her under the bus – she has been assigned to be the academic adviser to ten of the Ashton Aces, the very basketball team whose success has been annoying her. Not only does this mean she’ll have to deal with star athletes, but her new role will also put her into close personal contact with C.J. Draper, the team’s new coach. On the surface, the irreverent and outspoken C.J. is Carolyn’s polar opposite. But in reality, he too is driven by ambition. C.J. used to be a professional basketball player, but after being sidelined by an injury and seeing his career prospects gradually decline over several years, he has realized that his best hope of being relevant in the sport is to go into coaching. Ashton is the perfect place for him to get a toehold in the industry, but C.J. is clear that it is only a stepping stone to bigger and better coaching assignments. His long-term dreams involve coaching at a Final Four school. Carolyn and C.J. instantly clash. She looks down on his opportunism, and he “deplores her rigid outward perfection.” Also, their goals for the basketball players seem to be at cross purposes. For Carolyn, teaching comes first and foremost, and she wants to see her advisees become academically successful – which means long hours off the court and in front of their books. C.J. on the other hand, needs his players to gel as a team – which means practice time and more practice time. But soon, spending time together makes both of them start to let go of their prejudices. Carolyn sees that the basketball players aren’t at all the blinkered athletic machines she had imagined. At the same time, C.J. allows his love of helping people come out. He puts his emphasis on teaching his players how to think about the game strategically on their own rather than just listening to his instructions. He also gives up some valuable practice time so that the students can attend Carolyn’s mandatory study halls where she helps them keep their grades up. As C.J.’s best friend and former teammate Rake explains to Carolyn, C.J.’s uncouth exterior hides the fact that, at bottom, his main compulsion is bringing out the best in others. Carolyn and C.J. realize just how driven by their vocations each of them is. Just as she spends hours honing papers to be published, so he meticulously watches tapes of his players over and over again in order to give them tips on how to improve. As her initial hesitation melts, Carolyn becomes a true fan of the game of basketball – and both Carolyn and C.J. are able to indulge their heretofore concealed desire for one another. The novel’s climax sees the Ashton Aces miraculously Cinderella their way through what is clearly meant to stand in for the NCAA tournament, winning the whole thing through a combination of luck, C.J.’s teachings, and Carolyn’s success at guiding them through their academics. Now fully in a relationship, Carolyn and C.J. are also able to work on each other’s demons. Carolyn’s drive in academia has been fueled in part by the early deaths of her parents, who were both professors. She feels closer to them when she is working. Meanwhile, C.J. has darker problems with his own father, which Carolyn can help him get through.

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Patricia Mclinn

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