say no website

	What:	Say No Classic Summer College League
	Where:	Los Angeles Trade Tech College
	When:	June 26- August (playoffs begin 8/4/01)
	Who:	Top College Players
NCAA Sanctioned College League

The NCAA has a lot of rules, and one of them is that incoming or current college players at the D-I level are permitted to participate in summer leagues only if they are sanctioned by the NCAA. We're happy to report that there are several in the SoCal region, in particular in Los Angeles, and the one that's been around just about the longest is Rod Smith's "Say No Classic" which will once again be played this year at LA Trade Tech College (which is in Downtown LA, on Figueroa near Staples Center).

For years we've come to rely on BibbyBaby's USCHoops.com (no affiliation with the official USC website) for a lot of information on the Say No Classic, especially when we've been unable to get hold of Rod for schedules, rosters and such, and several other local sites have covered the league and been sources of information. Both the USC board and the UCLA message board at Bruinzone have been pretty good sources of info because of the high numbers of USC and UCLA players who stick around during the summer to play in the league.

But this year, the Say No Classic will be getting its own website, and the guys running it promise to have full schedules, rosters and other game info. The site isn't yet fully operational, but Michael Wolf, who was the Regional Director for SchoolSports.com and SchoolSports magazine (he left in February and rather than move to Boston, decided to stay on the West Coast). Michael has since started a program he's running up at Stanford called the "Positive Coaching Alliance." We don't know anything about his program, but he tells us that he will be coaching in the Say No Classic Summer League and he will also run the Say No web site for Rod Smith.

Most people in SoCal don't realize the amount and quality of basketball talent here in the summer, and even better, most are unaware that the Say No Classic is free (and they've got some of the best hot dogs in town too). We don't know all of the players who will be appearing in the league, but there will be a number of top Pac-10, Big West, WCC, Mountain West and WAC players who will play. Michael tells us that the Say No website will be up and running in the next day or two, and league play begins this Friday, June 22 at 6:30 p.m. so he's working feverishly trying to get everything going before the start of play.

Say No games will run every weekend from 6:30 p.m. Friday night until to 6:30 p.m. Sunday (well, that's sort of an exaggeration, because they actually stop at about 11:00 p.m. at night and then kick in the next morning. . . but you get the idea). . with playoffs beginning August 4.