By Al Camp
     The Chronicle
     
     MEMPHIS - A recent Elvis sighting here would look strangely familiar to anyone from Omak.
     That's because David Moulton, a 2000 Pioneer graduate, dons the King's garb and joins other members of the Kings of the Court to perform at Memphis Grizzly professional basketball games.
     Moulton, who joined the troupe this year, tosses down dunks off a trampoline like Elvis used to toss down doughnuts.
     "I was searching NBA.com and saw the link on there for the Grizzly Web site," Moulton said, who moved to Memphis about two years ago after living for several years in New York. "It said, 'Do you have what it takes, are you athletic and such and such.?' I went down for tryouts. They had a bunch of trampolines. I've never been on a small one, only a big one down in the yard."
     The 6-0 Moulton said he started slow, running 10 feet and jumping off while working to get near the rim.
     "I could dunk in high school, though never did it in a game," Moulton said. "I cannot get up that high any more.
     "Coming down, it is a lot easier to let yourself roll out of it. It's like an Army parachuter does. With all the adrenaline, you don't feel it."
     Moulton's worked his way up to a forward flip, coming out of his tuck in time to dunk the ball.
     "We have practices to go over different skits," Moulton said. "I cannot make a flip dunk in practice. I'm four-for-four in games. Adrenaline gets going and I jump an extra 12 inches or so."
     He said he's considered other possible moves after watching the Boston Celtics mascot, a gymnast, do twisting flips.
     The team's mascot, The Grizz, and five others including Moulton, perform generally between the last two quarters and during breaks in the fourth quarter.
     Moulton, 28, said they don Elvis jumpsuits and wear wigs that come with sideburns attached. He uses a headband to keep his wig secured while performing.
     "We do it to get the crowd hyped up," Moulton said, who's performed in 10 games before crowds of 12,000 to 13,000.
     "It gets pretty deafening in there," he said. "It is a whole different experience getting in there and looking up at the fans instead of looking down on the court."
     Kings of the Court also perform during college halftimes, such as at nearby Vanderbilt.
     Last week, the Kings of the Court performed in front of 3,000 children who were Need to Achieve winners in Memphis.
     "My back is a little sore from that. I did the flip dunk," Moulton said.
     He's not sure if the Grizzlies will make post-season play. They are three games out, but if they do, the Kings of the Court will perform.
     "Compared to last year, this is a huge step up," Moulton said of the team. "We won about 12 games last year."
     He said he's not sure if they will perform during the upcoming March Madness national basketball tournament. Last year, Memphis was one of four Sweet 16 tournament sites.
     And he's not sure if he will continue performing next year, as he and his wife, Hiley (Butler), are expecting their first child in July.
     "We did not even know each other in school," Moulton said. "We knew of each other through mutual friends. I went off to college with not a care in the world."
     Moulton received an electrical engineering degree from Washington State University in 2004.
     He was home visiting his parents, father Darryl Moulton and stepmother Sharon Howe, during Christmas in 2007, and met Butler, also a 2000 Omak graduate. The couple soon started a bi-coastal romance, traveling back and forth for many months. When he moved to Memphis to work with a big civil contractor, she joined him.
     They were married last August at Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church in Okanogan.
     "I just wanted to stay active, see some Grizzly games for free," Moulton said. "Now that the Sonics are gone (from Seattle), I can't bring myself to root for the Oklahoma City Thunder."