Tucker was one of four ball boys at KU’s game Saturday, shagging balls for players during practice, filling their water cups and keeping the court clean — and dry — in between the action.

“It’s cool to be that close to the game,” the 9-year-old fourth-grader at Deerfield School said.

Ball boys and girls are a rotating group of children selected by KU athletics officials from a pool of applicants each year.

Tucker, son of Thomas and Dru Fritzel, said his older sisters contacted KU officials last year and got him in as a ball boy at two games. He’s scheduled for two games again this year — the first was Saturday’s; the other is the Feb. 16 game against Iowa State.

Before Saturday’s game, Tucker rebounded balls during KU’s warm-ups. He said he was impressed with the players’ height because he only comes up to their waists.

“I just like all of them, the whole team,” he said. “They say ‘Good job’ and ‘Thanks.'”

During the game, he watches the Jayhawks’ court like a hawk from a courtside seat. When players hit the deck, ball boys get to work.

“If they fall down, I just go out there really fast when they are at the other end and mop it up,” he said. “If there’s something on the court, we have to go out really fast and get it.”

Tucker, a guard for the Nets team in the Hoopsters basketball league, is a big KU basketball fan. He said he often wears KU sweatshirts, T-shirts and hats.

¢ More Faces in the House

His family goes to most KU games to watch from the stands. But Tucker likes his seat as a ball boy better, even though it comes with responsibility.

“It’s better to be a ball boy because you can sit on the floor and have a better view,” he said.