The Stickman -- He Came, We Saw, He Amazed.

Kiwanis Family Night at Decker Gymnasium

Tom Carter has been traveling around the country for 16 years performing what has become famously entertaining for basketball fans everywhere. The Stickman, as he introduces himself, has provided halftime entertainment in the form of an amazing balancing act since 1990 when he got his start in Orlando, Florida performing for the newly formed Orlando Magic franchise.

Tom’s act consists of balancing a spinning basketball on a stick extended nearly 40 feet in the air. I was skeptical myself when hearing that he could keep this basketball spinning on a stick that high in the air -- there had to be some antics or behind-the-scenes stuff that made it possible right? Wrong. After meeting Tom firsthand, he proceeded to show me how it works. First: There is nothing special about the ball. He uses an ordinary Spalding Top Flight basketball -- no dips or divots in the ball or any other gags. Second: There is nothing special about the stick. Its an ordinary branch off a tree, with no adjustments to help the balancing of the ball other than the tip which has been shaped to a rather dull point.

Tom starts by spinning the ball on his finger before shifting it to a fine point pen. While spinning on the pen, he uses his free hand to increase the speed of rotation of the ball until it is spinning sufficiently. He then shifts the ball to the point of the stick before slowly raising the stick above his head without dropping the ball.

He doesn’t just stand still either. Stickman walks and jogs up and down the court without dropping the spinning ball. He entertains and worries crowd members at the same time by dangling and hovering the basketball out over their heads. Not impressed yet? How about after he stands behind the 3-point line and lowers the ball towards the rim before shooting it off the stick and into the hoop?

“Mr. Carter entertained and impressed all fans young and old, including myself. We'd like to thank the University Commons for sponsoring this event,” said Mansfield Director for the Development of Athletics, Alex Ogeka.

On top of the Stickman’s entertainment, Ogeka’s office hosted a business night out for local businesses. The Kiwanis group was also on hand for Kiwanis Family Night. Ogeka said, “We wanted to thank the local business community for their support for Mansfield Athletics. We also want to thank Kiwanis for their continued support of our athletics program.”

About 30 members of local business attended the business night out and 20-25 members of Kiwanis made appearances.

“Kiwanis is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time,” said President Abraham.

 The Kiwanis organization is dedicated to improving the lives of youth around the world by raising funds and donating them to groups from athletics programs to boy scout troops and many more. The organization consists of over 600,000 volunteers in 93 countries throughout the world.

Before the start of the men’s game, Kiwanis president Mr. Abraham presented the Mansfield Athletics program with a $150.00 donation. Alex Ogeka and MU Director of Athletics Roger Maisner would like to thank Mr.Abraham and the Kiwanis organization for their generous donation.

Below you can find more photos of the Kiwanis Family Night and Tom Carter’s famous “Long Stick Basketball Show.”