By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell sportswriter
SLIDELL — Northshore Head Basketball Coach Joey Tolis has two big sports goals in life. One is to a win a state title with his boys basketball team, and the other is to have his basketball invention become a big hit.
Tolis has invented the product, “Square Up!” which is a shooting aid to help basketball players shoot with the correct form. His invention was five years in the making, but now it’s got a patent and is drawing national attention
“One day I was thinking about shooting and it literally just came to me,” Tolis said.
The “Square Up!” is unlike any other shooting aid around. For one, it is a rubber “band” that fits around any women’s or men’s basketball. It forms six squares that shows where hands should go on the ball. When the basketball is shot, any shooter can see if he shot it straight or too crooked. It’s perfect for any right or left handed player.
There are other shooting aids out there like the “Hand-print Ball,” which is a ball with a hand print on it. The shooter places his hand over the hand print, but with that, a specific ball has to be bought and doesn’t show if the rotation on the ball is correct.
Another shooting aid is the “red stripe ball,” which has a red stripe down the middle of the ball. But it is only two inches wide so it’s difficult to see once the ball gets close to the goal.
Tolis recently had a booth during the NCAA Men’s Final Four in New Orleans at the New Orleans Arena. He generated a lot of attention from some major Division-I coaches who were interested in buying his product.
Most recently, Tolis was contacted by a national company who wants to start selling his invention at Academy Sports across the nation.
“I hope this is big. It’s a fun journey for sure,” Tolis said.
For more information on the product, visit the website at SquareUpNow.net.
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