Spring travel tournaments are on deck
Nowadays, there is no off-season as regards the sport of college basketball. Not only is there plenty of news even once the games have ended, but traveling team basketball at the high school level becomes a focus as well as kids work their way towards playing at the college level. It peaks in the hectic month of July, but it gets going before that. Most weekends have multiple tournaments in various locations.
The traveling team tournaments have already started, and they continue this weekend before they get going in full force. The Playaz Spring Fling often marks the unofficial start of it, as many of the top traveling teams in the northeast corridor head to northern New Jersey for one of the few tournaments where shoe company allegiances don’t rule. Teams sponsored by all three major shoe companies are present, and that’s one reason why the competition is always excellent. It is always held the weekend of the Final Four and provides a good break in the action from the exciting college game.
A weekend later, the Boo Williams Camp takes place in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, while Providence is home to one of the Hoop Group’s Jam Fest tournaments. Boo Williams annually has many solid teams from all over the country, making it one of the best early spring tournaments, while the Providence Jam Fest features teams mostly from New England.
The following weekend, April 15-17, features tournaments that are certified for college coaches, and they’re sure to be in full force since there won’t be many of them until July. The Las Vegas Spring Showcase is one of Hal Pastner’s many events that are always top-notch, while across the country, the nation’s capital is home to Charlie Weber’s Capitol Invitational. Both promise to be excellent tournaments with no shortage of future Division I players. In addition, on April 16, some current seniors play their final game as high school players in the Jordan Classic, which moves to Madison Square Garden in New York this year.
The weekend of April 22-24, the same two are at it again. This time, it’s Pastner’s Houston Kingwood Classic that takes center stage, fresh off an amazing turnout last year. We may never see a tournament field quite like it again, as it featured numerous national power traveling teams and came down to the Georgia Stars and Spiece Indy Heat for the championship. Another very strong field is expected this year, with many of the same teams. Meanwhile, Charlie Weber is running another tournament in the nation’s capital, the D.C. Hoop Fest. Both are certified for college coaches to attend, so that will be a busy weekend for many staffs.
Two good Midwest tournaments close out the month of April, the Howard Pulley/Sabes Invitational in Minneapolis and the Spiece Run ‘N Slam in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They lead us into a quieter month of May that is dead to college coaches, but still has good tournaments.
Notable tournaments in May include the Five Star Invitational, held in New London, Conn., on May 15 & 16, the St. Louis Eagles Invitational the following weekend, and three Memorial Day weekend tournaments. The Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions headlines that weekend, held from May 27-29 in the Triangle area of North Carolina and with games at all three big schools and other sites. New Orleans is once again home to the Nike Memorial Day Classic, held May 28-30, and Charlie Weber debuts his adidas Memorial Day Tournament in College Park, Maryland from May 27-29.
The month of June is also quiet, but it still features major events such as Rumble in the Bronx, held June 10-12 at Fordham University; USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, which not only takes place earlier this year (June 8-11) but also moves from Colorado Springs to Seattle; Nike Hoop Jamboree, held from June 15-18 in St. Louis; and the NBPA Top 100 Camp, held June 20-26 in Richmond. For a little break in the action, the month of June also features schools participating in the AND1 High School Basketball Championship, with eight regional tournaments and a final weekend tournament with regional winners in Philadelphia.
Hoopville will provide coverage of some of the aforementioned major events. Stay tuned as we tell you more about some players that will be in Division I gyms near you in the future.
