las vegas events april 4-6

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SoCalHoops Recruiting News

Pumps' Easter Tourney & FullCourtPress LV Shootout
Both Set For April 5-7 In Nevada--(Mar. 18, 2002)

As most who follow recruiting already know, the California Interscholastic Federation has refused to "sanction, approve, sponsor or conduct" any basketball events this spring during the NCAA's open-evaluation period. The evaluation-contact periods run (with a few minor exceptions for a couple of "dead" or "no contact" days in between) from April 3 through April 30, 2002.

As a result, under the newly amended NCAA bylaws, the only sites at which college coaches will be able to evaluate players will either be (a) on the campus where the prospect is enrolled (e.g., at the LACC Rockfish Spring League) or (b) at tournaments which are "approved, sanctioned, sponsored, conducted" under the auspices of either a state's high school athletic association or by the state's two-year college athletic association. The NCAA has taken itself out of the "certification" business when it comes to events in the spring (they will still certify summer events), leaving the decision to the high school associations in the spring.

As we've noted previously, the CIF has elected to treat the issue as a hot-potato, and for various reasons, mostly related to their own strict-constructionist reading of the CIF Bylaws, will not become involved in any way, shape or form with any spring events. But a neighboring State, specifically the Great State of Nevada, has seen the light, and they've recognized that even if the Golden State won't do anything, Silver State can and will. The result is that coaches who once came to California in droves, fueling the local economy, and tournaments which were previously based in SoCal, are now moving to Las Vegas for the weekend of April 5-7, 2002, the first weekend of the spring "evaluation" and "contact" period.

Double Pump Easter Tournament
April 5-7, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Double Pump Easter Tournament, which has traditionally been held over the weekend of the first "contact/evaluation" period at Cal State Dominguez Hills, will now be moving to Las Vegas, and will be played at Durango HS, Green Valley HS, and Silverado HS. The tournament is slated to have anywhere from 72 (there's already a huge waiting list, and the Pumps are trying to secure another facility to accommodate the demand). The tournament will start on Friday, April 5, and continue Saturday and Sunday. The tournament will be a three game guarantee, with a possibility of playing 6 games. We've heard about some big-time teams that will be attending, including an absolutely loaded Pump N Run team of juniors (e.g., Omar Wilkes, David Padgett, Brice Taylor, etc), an unsigned senior Pump N Run team, but the big news is that the Oakland Soldiers are said to be bringing Leon Powe and LeBron James, and a ton of other great players. Teams interested in signing up should contact Jan Bryant of Double Pump at 530-256-2862. Unfortunately, the Double Pump website is currently being reconstructed so sign up forms for the tournament are not available at the moment, but we're told that online signups for future Double Pump events are in the works.

Fullcourt Press Las Vegas Shootout
April 5-7, Las Vegas, Nevada

The Fullcourt Press Las Vegas Desert Shootout was actually the first tourney which the Nevada (NIAA) sanctioned this spring for NCAA Division I college coaches and it is slated to feature 36 club teams (including seniors and underclassmen), and it will be held at the newest Las Vegas facility, Sierra Vista HS. Some of the teams we've heard that will be attending that event include Belmont Shore, H-Squad Gold, H-Squad Black, EBO-EA Sports, Compton Magic, Las Vegas Rebels Select, True-Players (CO), Oakland Hotshots, ABC, Belmont Shore Gold, ICAN All-Stars, Inner-City/B-Ball, Utah Bruins, Seattle YES, 805 Express, Mad Moves (Las Vegas), Las Vegas TMT Players, Bellflower Hoops, San Diego Cougars, Carl's Jr. Superstars, LA Valley Triple Threat and a few others. According to Dinos Trigonis, there are just a few team spots remaining in the tournament. Teams interested in participating should contact either Dinos Trigonis at (562) 223-0190 or Ricky Sobers at (702) 247-3122

SoCalHoops will be there for the full weekend for each event, and we will have daily reports and player profiles, including profiles of the top juniors and unsigned seniors participating.

See you there.