One-Shot Wonder Now A 'Trotter

PEORIA, Ill. - Unlike Michael Jordan, who made his fortune and retired from pro basketball, Don Calhoun made his fortune and got a job shooting hoops.

Since winning $1 million by hitting a 75-foot shot at a Chicago Bull promotion last April, Calhoun has quit his $5-an-hour job and joined the Harlem Globetrotters - as a shooting guard.

"I'm doing something I enjoy," Calhoun said last week from Los Angeles as the team prepared for a Midwest tour. "I'm having a great time, bringing happiness to people."

The last nine months have surpassed Calhoun's wildest expectations. His life has changed dramatically since "the shot" last April 14.

That evening, he walked into Chicago Stadium in his yellow high-tops and was offered a chance to win $1 million - $50,000 each year for 20 years - by sinking a shot from the opposite free-throw line, about 75 feet away.

The stadium erupted when the ball swished through the net, and soon Calhoun was exchanging high-fives with Jordan and the Bulls.

Calhoun, 24, quit his sales job and packed for Phoenix last August to work out with a personal trainer in hopes of getting a tryout with a pro team.

He never made it there. Shortly before he was to leave, a call came from Marvin Walters, the Globetrotters' director of development and player personnel.

"We were attracted to him because of the shot he hit," Walters said. "So we invited him down to training camp."

Although he initially cut Calhoun, Walters said he was impressed by the millionaire's winning attitude. Calhoun was invited back for another tryout and was added to the Globetrotters' development team.

"I never dreamed I'd be a Harlem Globetrotter. It was something beyond my dreams. I'm real excited about it," Calhoun said.

He earned his red, white and blue uniform in December and joined the team in Spain.

"He's a competitor," Walters said. "He's an above-average player. He has good jumping ability."

Calhoun signed a one-year contract with the Globetrotters. To make a career with the team, Walters said he'll have to improve his ball-handling and his shooting.

What? Improve shooting for a guy who earned a million hitting a 75-foot shot?

"Let's face it," Walters said. "That was luck."