SoCalHoops Tournament & Recruiting News

2nd Annual Oakland Slam N Jam Elite 8x2
This Weekend At Cal--(July 27, 2000)

	What:	2nd Annual Oakland Slam N Jam Elite 8x2 Tournament
	Where:	UC Berkeley, RSF Center
	When:	July 28, 29 & 30
		Championship Games: Sunday, July 30
	Who:	16 Top Travel teams & 8 more

We've been away for the last couple of days (actually we've been catching up on work--real work, i.e. lawyer work), but we're back. . . After the Double Pump and Rim Rattler camps, the Las Vegas Big Time tournament and the Double Pump Best of Summer Tournament, we just needed a break and had to tend to some things, including some maintenance on the server (which is actually another story. . . more about that later).   But this weekend we'll be up in Berkeley, covering the last of the west coast "elite" tournaments for this year's NCAA summer open evaluation period.   Yes, we realize that there is at least one more truly "elite" level tournament coming up next month, the Nike Portland Challenge, but that's outside the NCAA evaluation period, which ends this weekend, and besides, we won't be able to be up in Portland this year due to other commitments (we'll be at the National Maccabi games in Richmond, VA. . . but too is a whole different story).

The Elite 8x2, a 16 team tournament which will be held on the campus at UC Berkeley's new Recreation Center, is going too be a great way to end the summer for most of these guys.  Some of the top teams from the west coast will be at this year's Slam N Jam Elite 8x2:  The Michigan Mustangs, Double Pump All Stars, EBO/EA Sports, Payton Baker All-Stars, Inland, IEBP, Rockfish,  Bay Area Ballers, Next Level, Belmont Shore, Salt Lake Metro, 805 Basketball, SSA and several others.

This year's Oakland Slam N Jam Elite Eight field has more than doubled from last year's event (hence the "x2", although it really should read "x2+"), and in fact, it will actually be two tournaments in one:  A 16 team tournament featuring the original top 16 invited teams (i.e., those listed above), and then a separate  8-team tournament between some other squads (many featuring some of the top rising juniors, along with some other top seniors) from around the NorCal region.

The schedule is below, and as you'll see from glancing at it, while this is a top level tournament, featuring some truly elite players and teams, after the camps, Vegas and the Best of Summer, it's also geared towards "winding down" a bit, and thus each team will only play one game on Friday, one on Saturday, and the eventual "Champion" will likely only play two games on Sunday.   Thus, there will be a lot of free time for the kids to relax, hang out and visit the Berkeley campus (and maybe also the Stanford, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, USF, and/or San Jose State campuses), and in general just get some free time to have a good time.

Here's the game schedule for the tournament:

Calvin Andrews, who heads up the Oakland Slam N Jam program and who is hosting the event, tells us that there will be D-I coaches from all over the country in attendance, including just about every Pac-10 school, all the WCC's, WAC, Big West, and many coaches from the east, including coaches from Kansas, Michigan, Michigan State, etc.  In fact, we'd expect that those coaches not at the Pitt 3 camp at Five Star (where a lot of the top players spend their last week of the summer after the Big Time and the Nike Showcase and Peach Jam) or at Eastern Invitational (another top camp in the East), will be at this event.

The games will, as noted above, be played on the campus at Cal.  We haven't yet seen the facility, but understand that it is brand new, and features several side-by-side courts so the tournament should feature some great action.   In case you're coming from out of town, be sure to check the map and likewise, be sure to make hotel reservations because things can get pricey if you try to book something over the weekend.  There are some excellent hotels in Oakland and down by the bay in Emeryville and Berkeley, and Oakland (specifically the Marriott downtown) has the best rates and is only minutes away from Berkeley.

Here's a map of the Berkeley campus depicting the new Recreational Sports Facility, which is immediately adjacent to the new Haas Paviliion.  There's a parking garage located immediately next to the RSF, and the facility is located on Bancroft Way (remember, it's a one-way street heading west, so you'll need to hit Bancroft from Telegraph or north of Telegraph Avenue).  In case the Cal website is unavailable, here's the map of the campus, clearly showing the RSF:

Zoomed out view

Should be a fun event.  See you there.

 
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