Basketball fans know how the sport plays in Peoria. Finally, some of those stories from an extra-special time in the city’s lore will be captured in print when “Playgrounds to the Pros: Legends of Peoria Basketball” (3 Fields Books, University of Illinois Press, at left) is released this month.

Booth, Nathan, Van Scyoc, Reynolds, Hester, Hughes, Watson, Coleman, Guyton, McClain, Griffin, Williams, Buescher, Ruffin, Lee, Livingston are among the names. So many have seen (and many more have heard about) the games.

Author Jeff Karzen has captured the spirit — the drama and the fun — of the River City during one of its great roundball runs.

Now the legacies come to life through this incredibly well-sourced book that leaps past the scores and stats. It plunges into the inside tracks of some of the back stories intertwined in the high school roots that led to some historic hoops from the late 1980s to well into the 21st century.

“I wanted to tell new stuff that people hadn’t heard,” said Karzen, a sports journalist from Evanston who currently works in healthcare in Chicago. “Going in I knew there were certain bullet points everybody knew.”

“Playgrounds to Pros” goes deeper than those X’s and O’s. Don’t worry, though, there are plenty of those.

DePaul coach Tom Kleinschmidt recalls an effervescent Howard Nathan darting from Chicago to the young Blue Demon’s beloved hometown and back during their playing days with David Booth in the chapter Prince of Peoria. Charles Nathan puts you in the car when he and his iconic brother were pinned in the wreckage that paralyzed Howard. You are in the living room with Sue and Howard Sr. and their superstar son.

Karzen provides a seat at the McClain family table in Mayor of the South Side, which covers Wayne protecting his people and coaching his son Sergio to glory. The riveting read gets behind how the whole community was stunned as it found out about how its proud patriarch had passed.

We get the stories of single mothers fueling the fire for Marcus Griffin and Frank Williams at Manual.

Karzen got hooked on Peoria hearing stories from his father’s fraternity brother at Illinois — former Manual principal Sandy Farkash. The author says he wants “to pull the curtain back on the people of this unique town of 100,000 that for a good period of time was without peer in basketball.”

The chapters stand alone on their natural narratives, but also weave together an epic journey that spans playgrounds, high school gyms, college arenas and world stage of the NBA.

First Family of Peoria Central jumps into the Lion’s Den with a chapter on the Guytons and Ruffins. Did you know how Dan Ruffin put his stepson A.J. on a path to greatness before putting up titles as Peoria High’s coach? How about how son Daniel Ruffin got the band back together with Shaun Livingston?

Speaking of Livingston, Karzen puts you into the office in the Richwoods locker room as Knights coach Bob Darling parts ways with the sophomore star and his father, Reggie.

Karzen writes for some recruiting websites, and the Michigan State graduate gives excellent accounts of Nathan’s path to DePaul then to Louisiana-Monroe; Guyton’s road to Bobby Knight at Indiana; Sergio, Marcus and Frank’s migration — and many, many more — to Illinois; Livingston’s preps to pros crusade from Concordia Lutheran to Roosevelt back to Concordia to Richwoods to Central past Illinois and Arizona and Duke and through 10 NBA franchises and a horrific knee injury to conquering the world with the Golden State Warriors.

“Shaun was such a likeable guy — a fantastic interview,” said Karzen. “So much perspective from a 35-year-old talking about his life as a kid, talking about expectations you can’t possibly meet.”

Amid all the hoopla, though, something clicked for Karzen as he was interviewing his 80-odd sources. He found out — Derrick Booth was particularly helpful — about the home life (and/or lack thereof) of all these Mr. Basketballs.

The chapter How the Seeds of Struggle Were Planted includes a unique perspective on Mary Williams — mother of Frank — through a narrative by big brother Vernon Morris, a former leader of the Gangster Disciples who served nine years in federal prison.

There’s a chapter on Marshall Dunnigan Jr., the son of a Peoria police officer who was killed in the crossfire of gang violence. Finding Oscar Mack gets into how the streets swallow up so many stars before they can shine.

“Such a big reason why Peoria players succeed — not just on the basketball court, but all over — is unbelievable coaching,” Karzen learned. “So many good coaches, who also were father figures to so many.”

The book opens with Anatomy of a Basketball Town as it establishes the Manual-Central rivalry and what’s at stake when playing in Peoria. “Basketball offered a refuge from the day-to-day struggles,” it reads. “Whether the ball was bouncing on outdoor asphalt or inside a gymnasium, basketball was a safe haven and an opportunity to feel part of a community. Among friends and peers on court, the young athletes strove for a better life beyond the boundaries of their hard scrabble surroundings.”

The author summed it up in an interview for this review:

“Peoria tough.”

‘Playgrounds to Pros’ author Jeff Karzen coming to town for book signings

“Playground to Pros: Legends of Peoria Basketball” author Jeff Karzen will appear at a pair of high school basketball games to promote the release of his new book.

On Feb. 10, Karzen will be at Manual when the Rams host Urbana, and on Feb. 14 he will be at Peoria High when the Lions take on the Rams. Karzen is also scheduled for a book signing at the Peoria Public Library at 2 p.m. March 19.