Atlantic City’s Basketball Glory Years Headed to Big Screen in ‘Under the Boards’

ATLANTIC CITY — The basketball program that ended Atlantic City’s long wait for a state championship and later delivered back-to-back titles is getting the Hollywood treatment.

A feature film titled “Under the Boards” is being developed around former Atlantic City High School assistant basketball coach Jim Schafer Jr.’s experiences with the program, with veteran Hollywood producer Scott Rosenfelt involved in the project.

Schafer discussed the film this week during an appearance on The AC Mike Lopez Show on WOND, describing a story that stretches well beyond basketball.

“It’s told from my point of view,” Schafer said. “Gene Allen is a big part of it, because obviously Gene Allen is an icon for the basketball team.”

Schafer said the story also involves family, health struggles, his relationship with Atlantic City and the people who helped transform the Vikings into state champions.

And if everything goes according to plan, much of that story will be recreated where it happened.

“We hope to film every single thing in South Jersey, if not Atlantic City,” Schafer told Lopez. “It’s all going to be filmed here.”

From No State Titles to Three

The basketball history behind the planned movie is substantial.

Before Allen took over as head coach, Atlantic City had never won a boys basketball state championship. He changed that dramatically, leading the Vikings to Group IV state championships in 2005, 2012 and 2013. The program also captured multiple South Jersey titles during his tenure.

Schafer's role with the program is independently documented. In a 2024 retrospective by longtime South Jersey sportswriter Tom Williams, Schafer was identified as a former Atlantic City basketball assistant. In the article, Schafer recalled his years coaching at Atlantic City High School and said he retired and returned three times because of health issues.

During his WOND appearance, Schafer described a close working relationship with Allen.

“We were partners,” Schafer said. “We had an unbelievable partnership.”

Schafer said Allen brought a magnetic personality and vision to the program, while his own role centered heavily on preparation and strategy.

“I wanted to challenge myself to break the 100-year drought of winning a state championship,” Schafer said.

That breakthrough came in 2005. Atlantic City later returned to the top in 2012 before repeating as state champion in 2013.

Schafer said those championship years form a major part of Under the Boards.

The X’s and O’s

Schafer said one of the keys to Atlantic City’s success was adapting the system to the players rather than forcing every team to play the same way.

“You have to adapt and adjust,” Schafer said. “That’s timeouts and halftime, and that was very important for us, and changing and adapting to the talent that we had.”

The Atlantic City teams of the mid-2000s didn't necessarily play the same style as those that emerged several years later.

“It was a different style because that fit the players,” Schafer said. “So I think that’s important when you’re building a program.”

Allen jokingly called him “Jimmy Wooden,” Schafer said, a reference to legendary UCLA coach John Wooden and Schafer’s obsession with preparation.

“I believe in a plan,” Schafer said. “I don’t go to the bathroom without a plan.”

Schafer's description of himself as a detail-oriented coach is also consistent with his comments in the 2024 Williams retrospective, in which he discussed carefully going over practices, game plans and preparation.

More Than a Basketball Movie

Under the Boards also is expected to delve into Schafer’s life away from the court.

He traces much of his approach to his parents. His father coached at Atlantic Cape, and Schafer said he rode the team bus with him as a child.

His mother influenced the teacher and writer he eventually became.

“My mom taught me to be the teacher that I am, and the writer,” Schafer said.

Schafer also went through serious health problems and at one point left basketball and became a golf professional.

He eventually returned to Atlantic City.

“My wife, who refuses, doesn’t want to do anything, but she’s really a hero of the movie, not me,” Schafer said.

He also singled out his children and the Atlantic City community, including Mayor Marty Small Sr., as important pieces of the story.

“Because of my love affair with Atlantic City and the community, I wanted to come back,” Schafer said.

Hollywood Experience Behind the Project

Schafer identified Scott Rosenfelt as the producer involved with Under the Boards.

Rosenfelt has a lengthy Hollywood résumé that includes Teen Wolf, Mystic Pizza, Home Alone and Smoke Signals. He also produced Critical Thinking, the John Leguizamo-directed feature based on the true story of an inner-city Miami high school chess team that won a national championship.

That experience gives Rosenfelt an interesting connection to the type of story Schafer wants to tell — one involving young people, education, mentorship and championship competition.

Schafer emphasized that Under the Boards is being envisioned as a dramatized feature rather than a documentary.

“It’s a feature film,” Schafer said. “It’s not a documentary. It’s a feature film.”

No cast, production start date or release date has been publicly announced.

Schafer Wants Atlantic City Involved

Schafer said another goal is to make the production itself an opportunity for people in the area.

He said local residents interested in filmmaking could potentially become involved in areas such as production and camera work and receive training.

“Anyone from the area that wants to be involved in a movie, either as like an assistant production guy or assistant cameraman or whatever it is, will be trained and will be a part of the movie,” Schafer said.

That local emphasis extends to where the movie would be shot.

Schafer said the hope is to film throughout South Jersey — and preferably in Atlantic City itself.

The film remains in development. South Jersey NewsBeat has found no publicly announced cast or release date, and Schafer said a website containing information about the project was still being developed.

Film Could Help Expand Schafer Foundation

Schafer also hopes the movie can benefit the Jim Knute Schafer Foundation, which supports local student-athletes and youth programs.

The foundation's existence and work in the local sports community are independently documented. BreakingAC reported last year that it was among the sponsors supporting Pleasantville boxer Julio Sanchez III and described the nonprofit as providing scholarships and equipment to aspiring athletes.

Schafer told Lopez the foundation also has supported the Battle by the Bay Scholarship Fund, Born Winners and G5 Dynasty Elite.

“100 percent of the donations go out,” Schafer said. “There’s no fees. There’s no administration. It’s just me and my wife with a passion project.”

He said the possibility of expanding the foundation’s work was one of the factors that persuaded him to sell the movie rights.

‘My Thank You to the Community’

When discussing why he wrote the story in the first place, Schafer repeatedly shifted the attention away from himself and toward Atlantic City.

He recalled the Boardwalk parades celebrating the Vikings’ championships and the importance basketball has long held in the city.

“Basketball is everything to them,” Schafer said. “It was very important to the city.”

For Schafer, Under the Boards ultimately represents something more personal than another telling of wins, losses and championships.

“Writing the story was my thank you to the community, the students, Marty Small, Gene Allen, Jason Lance, Dr. Small, all the people that make Atlantic City go,” Schafer said.

“This is my thank you to them. It’s not about me.”