The idea was for some of the Metro area’s biggest high school basketball stars to teach fundamentals of the game to a bunch of little kids.

So what was the one thing 6-year-old Jace Fopma of Marion and 7-year-old Kaylee Herr of Cedar Rapids learned Thursday night at the first-of-its-kind clinic at the downtown Helen G. Nassif YMCA?

“How to dribble between our legs,” said the tow-headed Jace.

“That was the funnest part,” agreed his new friend Kaylee.

“These days, that is one of the fundamentals,” said a half-joking Kasey Semler, the Marion Indian senior known for his dazzling dribbling and no-look passes during an all-state career.

Semler and his childhood buddy Wes Washpun, the Washington Warrior senior all-stater who recently signed with Tennessee, were teamed up for the two-hour hoops session organized by the YMCA’s Patty Bezan, volunteer director of the Everyone Counts Campaign.

Through the program, memberships are provided to children and families who otherwise may not be able to afford them.

The clinic Thursday night, though, was a come-one-come-all affair for area kids promoted mostly through word-of-mouth throughout the metro-area Y branches. Mostly grade school-age youngsters showed for what Bezan hopes will become an annual event.

Besides dribbling practice, they did layup drills under the eyes of Linn-Mar senior All-American Kiah Stokes, Iowa's Miss Basketball, and longtime pal Olivia Meier, a senior star from Kennedy.

Meanwhile, Iowa’s Mr. Basketball Jarrod Uthoff of Jefferson and Linn-Mar buddy Josh Montague towered over tykes tossing up free throws. Marion Indian junior sparkplug Dani Peyton and Cedar Valley Christian junior friend Ellen Rodriguez worked on defensive skills.

Passing drills were conducted by senior stars Shannon Beck of Kennedy and Dan Roalson of Cedar Valley Christian.

While the high school heroes were sharing their basketball talents, Bezan said that was perhaps the least important lesson they provided.

“All of them are real models for these younger kids. I know a lot of them through the Y and from what I know about the others, they’re great examples of the Y’s core values and emphasis on character,” she said.

But it was focused on fun, too.

“I love being around the little kids,” said Semler, who reads to kindergartners once a week at Marion elementary schools. “This isn’t just about basketball. It’s about building relationships with them.”