Staying a step ahead of the game

They were like trees among shrubs -- three gargantuan Harlem Globetrotters standing waist deep in screaming schoolchildren, all of them holding out shoes and shirt sleeves for an autograph.

The setting: An outdoor basketball court at Chatsworth’s Sierra Canyon elementary school.

The ‘Trotters: “Clown Prince of Basketball” Geese Ausbie, “World’s Fastest Dribbler” Curley Boo Johnson and Eugene “Edge” Edgerson, known as much for his Afro as his ball-handling skills.

The occasion: CHEER for Character -- an education and empowerment program the Globetrotters developed with the U.S. Department of Education. Since its debut last year, nearly 300,000 schoolchildren have participated in the CHEER assemblies, which were designed to demonstrate the connection between good character and success.

In the nearly 80 years the world’s funniest basketball team has been on the court, the players’ names have changed, but their ball-spinning, speed-dribbling, fake-out passing shtick has consistently inspired and amused audiences. Last year, the ‘Trotters decided to formalize their role as basketball’s goodwill ambassadors through community events that shine a spotlight on positive character traits acronymically identified as CHEER.

“What we did in the past was dependent on the Globetrotters or the school,” said Mannie Jackson, a former Globetrotter and now team owner. “It was different every time. It wasn’t structured, so we challenged the group that every player in front of school would have a consistent message.”

At Sierra Canyon, it was Edgerson who stood center court spelling it out. His hair tamed with corn rows, a red-white-and-blue sweatband around his neck and a basketball under his arm tantalizing the crowd with tricks to come, the 6-foot-7 player introduced each letter and the words they represent.

Those would be cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm and respect -- with an additional R, responsibility, thrown in for good measure. Edgerson coaxed definitions for each out of the kids -- an unenviable task, considering there were 200-plus youngsters jumping up and down, waving their arms and straining their vocal chords yelling, “Pick me!”

On court, the screams of the chosen few morphed into slack jaws as the team’s unmistakable theme song “Sweet Georgia Brown” came up on the PA system and Ausbie and Johnson left the sidelines to bust some moves. Rolling the ball up one arm, across his back, and down the other, Ausbie then bumped the ball with his rear end, passing it to Johnson, who spun it on his fingertip, threw it in the air and caught it between his shoulder blades.

Having sufficiently awed their pint-sized admirers with a living, dribbling example of the CHEER concept, the three then ratcheted down their skills to kid level, teaching them to pass the ball between their legs, behind their backs and, finally, bump it to the next person with their knees, heads and elbows. A little more hot-dogging, the assembly was over.

“People expect us to be a great basketball team and good people in day to day life,” Jackson said. “The public has gotten sick of the star system [where] athletes tend to be more self-centered and aloof and directed at something other than the audience.”

That’s why the court is open and the players are game for an hour-long autograph session at the conclusion of each performance, including the team’s upcoming shows at the Arrowhead Pond and Staples Center. The Globetrotters may be best known as comedians, but they are also excellent athletes and positive, accessible role models, walking the talk of their message.

“We do it for the love of the game,” said Edgerson, who’s been with the team two years, “but we like to make a difference.”

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Harlem Globetrotters

What: Harlem Globetrotters “World of Fun”

Where: Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella, Anaheim

When: 1 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Price: $10-$125

Info: (714) 740-2000

Also

Where: Staples Center, 1111 S. Figueroa, L.A.

When: 1 p.m. Monday

Info: (213) 742-7340