The main characters in Walter Dean Myers's novel Hoops are Lonnie Jackson and Cal Jones, and they are supported by characters like Aggie, Mr. O'Donnel, Mary-Ann, and Tyrone.

Lonnie Jackson is seventeen, and he has a dream. He wants to play professional basketball. He is a good player, but he feels trapped in his situation in his rough Harlem neighborhood. Lonnie is supported and challenged by Cal Jones, a former basketball player who coaches Lonnie's team. Cal is a mess in his personal life, but he is still a good coach, and he inspires Lonnie. He turns Lonnie into a team leader and helps him develop his talent.

Cal's former partner, Aggie, also becomes a friend of Lonnie, and Lonnie's girlfriend, Mary-Ann, figures into the story as well. The relationship between Lonnie and Mary-Ann grows into love by the end of the novel, as the two face challenges and struggles together.

The villains of the novel include Mr. O'Donnel, who wants to sway the results of the basketball tournament, and Tyrone, who assaults Mary-Ann and ends up stabbing Cal at the end of the novel when Cal refuses to throw the tournament.