"It's all about basketball."

That simple statement, surrounded by a chorus of yeah's, explains why Jeremy Finley, 10, and his friends were among the first people to arrive at the SlamFest '97 basketball tournament taking place this weekend at Indian Park.

Jeremy, Isaac Porter, 8, Antoin Bradley, 9, and Michael Porter, 6, were in the park by 8 a.m. Saturday morning because they wanted good seats close to the basketball courts. The grown-ups come in late afternoon, they said, and the kids can't see over them. That's why getting to the park early was a must.

The players-in-training said life doesn't get any better than the two-day, double-elimination tournament. They planned to be in the park all day Saturday and, unless they got in trouble at home, all day today as well.

"That's all we play, even at school," said Jeremy as he eyed an empty basketball court. "Unless, sometimes, we play a little soccer. But then we go back to basketball."

Some of the players are strangers from out of town, they said, but that makes the tournament better because "they don't know everybody's moves yet." Moves seemed to be important to the youngsters, who said the tournament gives them the chance to learn from the older players.

Offers to hold "street shoes" and jewelry for the players while they were on the court sometimes yielded good information about ball-handling and free-throw shooting, they said. If one of the group members learned a tip from an older player, he was supposed to join his friends on an empty court so they could all learn the new move.

"We want to learn how to play and how to do our moves like they move," said Antoin as he watched a player practicing jump shots. "They been playing a long time, so they know a lot about the game."

Melvin Porter, Isaac and Michael's father, played in the opening game of the tournament. His team lost, and when he returned to the sidelines, he had to answer questions from the young combination of coaches, cheerleaders and talent scouts.

"It doesn't matter what the score was, the bottom line is we got beat," said the elder Porter as he sat down. "We've got another game coming up later, so that's what we need to focus on."

The young group may not understand it now, Porter said, but basketball can tell a person a lot about life. If they learn the lessons early in life, they'll be successes, he said.

"They're right; it is all about basketball," he said. "Everybody looks at the sport of it, but there's more to it than that. This sport teaches you about discipline, getting along with other people, working in a team. It also teaches you that somebody's got to lose, and there are people out there who's better than you. I really hope that they just see what it's all about."

SlamFest continues this morning with the final games of the tournament, as well as a slam dunk contest and a gospel concert featuring area talent. Charleston basketball legend Ricky Frazier will also be honored this afternoon for his contributions to the game.