Muncie (Ind.) Central High School does not want its MTV. In November, the school turned down an offer that would have cast Bearcat players as stars of a new reality TV program modeled after the Music Television Network's hit show Two-A-Days, which chronicled Hoover (Ala.) High School's pursuit of a football state championship. Muncie Central was one of two East Central Indiana schools to decline the invitation, with New Castle High School also saying no thanks.

With a rich basketball history that includes the most state titles in Indiana boys' high school basketball history, Muncie Central was an obvious choice for the part. But after discussing a preliminary proposal from producers, the school decided the show was not in its student-athletes' best interests.

"We all agreed that the project would be a little too intrusive on our kids," Head Boys' Basketball Coach Matt Fine says. "We felt that having cameras focused on them for several hours a day would interfere with their academics, family lives, and basketball."

By turning down the proposal, Muncie Central is most likely missing out on a financial windfall. In addition to the $20,000 MTV paid Hoover High School for filming rights, the school has made a large profit from team merchandise sales. To meet the national demand, the school even had to set up an online store.

"Yes, the money would have helped our bottom line," says Fine. "But ultimately, we decided that you can't put a price tag on the disruption the cameras could have caused, not only to the basketball program, but to everybody else in our school."