Here's a dream basketball job -- good pay, playing time every night of the week, winning is a foregone conclusion, and not too much stress on defense.

The Harlem Globetrotters is a good gig if you can get it.

One possible downside? There's never a home-court advantage.

For tonight, at least, Scooter McFadgon will feel at home when he returns to Thompson-Boling Arena for a 7 o'clock game wearing the uniform of the sporting world's favorite goodwill ambassadors.

McFadgon, who played two season for Tennessee (2003-05), joined the Globetrotters in January and said he's having a great time.

"We've been traveling, having fun and it's been a good experience,'' McFadgon said Tuesday.

The Globetrotters are celebrating 80 years of trick shots and crowd-pleasing antics. McFadgon is on one of two U.S. squads and a third works overseas.

Tuesday night was Chattanooga, Thursday is WinstonSalem, Friday is Raleigh and so on.

"We've been so many places,'' McFadgon said. "It's like a hundred games already.''

While being a Globetrotter wasn't on McFadgon's radar screen when his college career ended a year ago, he feels both fortunate and content, for now.

He got hooked up through a couple of Memphis homeboys, Michael Wilson and Keiron Shine, and passed a tryout in Phoenix, Ariz., the Globetrotters' headquarters.

"It's cool for me,'' McFadgon said. "I was kind of shy when I first got here, but shy is the last thing you can be here. That'll help me out when I go to another level.

"I still score, but my ball-handling and passing have gotten a whole lot better. That's all we do is work with the ball.''

While the Globetrotters' existence is predicated on scripted showmanship, genuine competition also is part of the equation. The team will play a college all-star squad during the Final Four weekend in Indianapolis.

This could be a one-year experience for McFadgon, but then again it could turn into something longer.

"You've got a lot of people out there waking up every day with no job and don't know their next move,'' McFadgon said.

"The way I look at it, if other plans don't go, this is something I could do. It's fun and you make a real good living at it.''

Tickets start at $14 and are available the arena box office, by phone (877-995-9961), online (Knoxvilletickets.com) and at area Tickets Unlimited outlets.