This year, he's an innovator who was flown to company headquarters to sell it.

In 2008, Tommy, 15, had a proposal for a home basketball game - one good enough to grab New Jersey-based Sportcraft's attention.

It took five months for them to respond, but it was worth the wait.

A year ago, his parents told him Sportscraft had called back and invited him for a visit.

"They actually flew me up to their company in New Jersey and picked me up at the airport with a limousine," Tommy said.

The high school freshman got the kind of star treatment not usually afforded to a kid with a simple idea: add a three-point mat to a Sportscraft's basketball game. Before, players could score two points by making the shot, but there was no mat monitoring a three-point distance.

The idea isn't new, but for the home market it's groundbreaking.

"As far as we can tell there hasn't been anything else [like it] on the market," said John Erlandson, vice president of marketing and product development at Sportscraft.

Sportscraft bought Tommy's idea for a "small amount," according to Tommy's parents, Karin and Tom Evanoff. The real compensation was the relationship Tommy formed with Sportscraft, who've asked him to continue coming up with ideas and perhaps intern with them this summer.

And - the best part - put his picture on the box that just hit the shelves at Target and Sears stores for the holiday season.

Tommy spoke about his idea, his trip to New Jersey and his brush with fame as the boy on Sportscraft's 3-Point Throwdown.

Q: Tell me about 3-Point Throwdown Basketball. It all started with me and my friend, Keith, who lives down the street from me. He has a Sportcraft. He was beating me pretty bad, so I came up with this idea for a mat that you stand on. It triggers the machine to award you a three-pointer. I came back home and researched his model.

Q: How did you pitch your idea to the company? I e-mailed them in September (2008). The product manager responded pretty quickly. He said it sounded good, and wanted me to sign a nondisclosure agreement. I signed it and returned it to him. He wanted me to describe the game to him.

Q: Did you think you would hear back from them after that?

I kind of just thought it didn't work out. They called back in February [2009]. I came home from school one day and my dad said they called back and wanted to go into production.

Q: What did your friends and family think when they found out they were flying you out to New Jersey?

They were amazed; they were thrilled that I was actually going there. It was wonderful, they were really nice. They showed me around the company, how the company works, how their products get shipped.

Q: Were you nervous about flying out-of-state to meet with them in person?

Just a little bit, but at the same time I was really happy that this was happening and everything.

Q: When you met with Sportcraft in New Jersey, what did they have to say?

I asked if everyone agreed on it. It was the first time everyone agreed on an idea. One guy said he thought, 'Why didn't I think of that?'

Q: What was your reaction when they decided to buy your idea?

I was thrilled. I thought, 'Is this really going to happen?'

Q: Did they tell you when the game would be out?

When I was at the company, they said it should be out in September or October. Every weekend I'd go up to the store to see if it was there. It finally came out, and my Dad saw a box. It was really amazing to see me doing a three-point shot.

Q: Were you surprised that they chose you as the model for the box the game is packed in?

Yeah! They told me, 'With our products we use workers in the factory and take a picture of them for the box. We don't usually take a picture of the person that came up with the idea.'

Q: Do you have any other ideas for games? Have you pitched any other ideas to Sportcraft?

They were asking for more ideas. I asked if I could come up there to help out. They want me to test 'em out, see if I like them. Get a kid's perspective.

Q: Have you thought about getting a job in game designing when you get out of school?

I've always come up with ideas, but this time I actually followed through, kept going, did it mostly all by myself. I never actually thought about being a game designer, until these last couple months where they offered me a summer job, and could come up whenever I want.

Q: What would you say to a student your age who had a good idea for a company, but was too nervous to do anything about it?

I would say just follow through with it. Keep going. It's one thing to have an idea, but you have to follow through. You have to do the hard work.