BOOKIT

The deal

James D. Solomon, chief of Five More Minutes Productions, options Rus Bradburd’s “Paddy on the Hardwood: A Journey in Irish Hoops,” the story of a successful college basketball coach who quits his day job to play the fiddle in Ireland and winds up leading a team of endearing misfits to an improbable championship.

The players

Solomon (executive producer and screenwriter for ESPN’s “The Bronx Is Burning”) to produce; Bradburd and the publisher represented by Blauner Books Literary Agency and Creative Artists Agency; the book is published by University of New Mexico Press.

The back story

Here’s a St. Patrick’s Day tale if ever there was one: Back in 2002, Rus Bradburd turned his back on a 14-year coaching career to chase a lifelong dream of playing traditional music in Ireland. Then he wrote a memoir about his adventures in the little-known world of Irish professional basketball -- Laker legend Jerry West called it “the best sports book I’ve read in a long while” -- and recently signed a film deal. But the road didn’t exactly rise up to meet him along the way.

A proud, stubborn guy from Chicago -- who’s half-Russian, half-Swiss by the way -- Bradburd broke two cardinal rules in the book-to-film world: He negotiated much of his own contract three years ago, and he gave the film rights to his publisher. When the dust settled, “Paddy on the Hardwood” was published by an academic house that didn’t exactly launch a full-court press when it came to marketing his memoir.

But the gloom lifted. Literary agent Andrew Blauner got wind of the book when the author was interviewed on NPR last year and instantly sensed its potential. He sent it to Solomon, who agreed. After lengthy negotiations, in which Bradburd’s agents represented both him and the publisher, the film option was finally sold. “I love sports books that go beyond who won or lost and give you a rich sense of place, with great characters, and this is definitely that kind of book,” Solomon said. “At first, people would tell me, ‘This isn’t a book, it’s a movie,’ and that was obviously frustrating to me,” Bradburd said. “But now I realize it’s both. If you’re really passionate about the Irish, this one’s for you.”

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josh.getlin@latimes.com