‘J-Mac’ brings his story to Spokane

A fundraiser for Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital has turned into a tug-of-war over the star power of Jason McElwain, the autistic teenage basketball player who came off the bench last year to shoot six three-pointers – and to touch the hearts of a nation.

The boy nicknamed “J-Mac” has been scheduled since last summer to speak at today’s Kids at Heart Charity Lunch, an annual event expected to raise $100,000 for the Spokane hospital.

Organizers counted on media coverage of the event to help boost their cause, said co-chairwoman Angela Williams.

But a surge in McElwain’s popularity – including a movie deal – led to an upcoming exclusive interview on NBC-TV’s “The Today Show,” and a kibosh on television coverage in Spokane.

Jason and his mom, Debbie McElwain, arrived in town Wednesday under strict orders from his agent to avoid electronic media appearances and several specific topics.

“I can’t talk about the movie and the book, I can’t talk about the anniversary date,” said Debbie McElwain, whose son is represented by the William Morris Agency in New York.

“I can talk about Jason’s plans for the future.”

Representatives for Columbia Pictures, where basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson is executive producer of a movie about the boy’s life, apparently advised McElwain’s agent that he couldn’t conduct TV interviews while he’s here, said Williams.

Betsy Berg, the agent, didn’t return calls, but Williams said Spokane organizers were told to cancel scheduled television interviews. Newspaper and radio interviews were fine, but not images that might usurp a “Today” show story apparently set to appear on Feb. 15, the anniversary of McElwain’s basketball feat at his Rochester, N.Y., high school game.

“We’re disappointed,” said Williams, whose group paid $6,000 to bring the 18-year-old to town.

Organizers scanned the fine print of J-Mac’s contract to find it allowed the boy – and his representatives – to accept or decline any media appearances.

Even so, some local television stations planned to send crews to McElwain’s 11:30 a.m. appearance at the Spokane Convention Center.

“Yes, we are,” said Trinity Spencer, an assignment editor at KREM-TV Channel 2.

“This is a news story in Spokane,” said Williams, who also works as a weekend anchor for KXLY-TV.

She said she chose McElwain precisely for the inspirational oomph of his basketball performance, after she saw the boy’s basketball video at a journalism conference last year.

“When I saw these journalists who wear funny glasses and wear black all the time and are so jaded were getting teary, I thought, ‘We’ve got to bring him here.’ “

McElwain was a senior at Greece Athena High School where he served as team manager for the varsity basketball team. In the last few minutes of the team’s final game last Feb. 15, the coach gave the boy a chance to play.

His first three-point shot missed, as did a subsequent layup. But then he made six three-pointers and a two-pointer – a total of 20 points – including the last shot of the game, which emptied the stands and made J-Mac a national hero.

He met President Bush and appeared on Oprah. In June, he won an ESPY Award for best sports moment. Next month, the interview with “Today” host Matt Lauer is set to air.

McElwain, a tall, blond with dark eyes and a shy smile, seemed to take the negotiations of celebrity in stride Wednesday afternoon.

He was eager to discuss his new job at the Wegmans grocery store bakery: “I just got promoted to the cakes,” he said.

And he was happy to preview his Spokane material.

“The subject I’m going to talk about is: ‘Sometimes dreams do come true,’ ” he said.

He was even willing to shoot a few baskets in the gym at the Spokane Club, swishing them as certainly as anything on his YouTube video.

J-Mac’s mom did most of the talking, explaining that speaking fees and other arrangements – think book and movie deals – will make all the difference in the life of her youngest son, who was diagnosed as severely autistic as a toddler.

“It’s going to be a very short window,” said Debbie McElwain. “He’s going to be at Wegmans for the rest of his life.”

In that light, organizers of today’s fundraiser were more than willing to accommodate any media demands, Williams said.

“This very well might be his future,” Williams said.

“We know he needs to ride this wave while it’s going on.”