hoopscoop camp postponed

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

HoopScoop All-American Camp
@ Memphis Postponed To August--(May 8, 2001)

One of the first people we bumped into in Indiana this weekend on Friday just before the start of the games at the 8th Annual Spiece Gym Rats Run N Slam Tournament was Clark Francis of the HoopScoop, and Clark was not a happy camper. It seems that he and camp organizer Dinos Trigonis ran into some logistical problems which have forced them to postpone the camp temporarily. They weren't certain the camp could ever be held this year, but according to Clark, (and Dinos with whom we spoke this afternoon) hopefully they will shoot for a rescheduled date in August, and a rescheduled location, Pepperdine University rather than Memphis, Tenn.

When we bumped into Clark in the lobby of the Don Hall's Guesthouse Hotel in Ft. Wayne, he was on his way up to his room to post the news about the postponement, and we were on the way to the Spiece Fieldhouse, so we didn't have a lot of time to spend talking about this. . . .but since many of the top players in SoCal had been invited to this All-American-style camp and were planning to attend, we thought we better get the word out before too many people make travel plans which can't be changed. Here's what Clark posted on the HoopScoop website on Friday night:

All systems are not go on the HOOP SCOOP All-American Premiere. As a matter of fact, the final decision to pull the pug was made this afternoon. In other words, there will be no camp in Memphis, May 18th-20th. The decision had to be made due to logistical problems and the inability on our part to get the financial backing from several important sponsors that we needed to make this a first class event. However, we haven't given up on the idea of having a superstar oriented event without the involvement of either of the two major shoe companies (NIKE and adidas) in the future. Tentatively we are talking about rescheduling the event at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA sometime in August. But it won't happen unless we have the necessary sponsorship, are able to fly most of the players from around the nation to Southern California, and have all the logistical things, like referees, uniforms, and transportation that are crucial to running an organized camp, lined before we ever make our intentions known publicly. And just for the record, if anybody involved wants to leak specifics about the camp in advance of an official announcement, that will be enough to ensure that I stay out of the camp business for good. If you will recall, Dave Telep of Rivals.com listed the HOOP SCOOP All-American Premiere on his event calender in February when the camp was still in the planning stages. Not only did he scoop us on our own camp, but he also speeded up the process and, as a result, forced us to make an announcement before we had everything in place. And to be honest we still don't have everything in place. I do want to thank Dinos Trigonis for all of his effort and hard work. I also still believe that Trigonis could have made this one of the top events of the entire year, but if the HOOP SCOOP name is going be associated with it, I am not willing to wing it and see what happens at the last minutes.