Basketball Hall of Fame to celebrate high school hoops with five elite national programs
PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced the creation of Hoophall West, a major national high school basketball showcase hosted at Grand Canyon University December 13-14 in Phoenix this coming season. The event is the west coast version of the original Springfield-based Hoophall Classic, which has featured many of the top prep teams and players over the past 12 years. Hoophall West will launch in 2013 with five major high school basketball powerhouse programs in a National Showcase and plans for a separate Arizona Showcase of local teams.
“We are extremely excited to announce our high school basketball event expansion with the inaugural Hoophall West,” said John L. Doleva, President & CEO of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “We have had an extraordinary amount of success with the Hoophall Classic in Springfield and we are looking forward to bringing some of the nation’s top high school programs in the country to Phoenix in December.”
This past year’s Hoophall Classic, held at Springfield College, featured all top 10 ESPN teams in the nation including a No. 1 vs. No. 2 nationally televised matchup. Prominent alumni from that event include Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder), Anthony Davis (New Orleans Hornets) and Kyrie Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers) among dozens of current NBA and NCAA stars. Hoophall West hopes to follow that model to celebrate the game on the other coast.
The National Teams will include Bishop Gorman (Nevada), Oak Hill Academy (Virginia), Yates (Texas), Mater Dei (California) and Orange Lutheran (California)
“This inaugural field for Hoophall West is a great mix of the nation’s top high school basketball programs and elite teams from the Phoenix area,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Board and special advisor to the President of GCU. “Arizona has a great basketball tradition across all levels of the game and Hoophall West will not only provide an incredible platform for high school basketball in the state but draw enthusiasts from around the country to see the best the game has to offer during a special weekend.”
Grand Canyon University will serve as the host for this year’s event. Hoophall West games will be played at Grand Canyon University Arena, which is a 5,000-seat, 135,000-square-foot-multi-purpose entertainment and athletics facility centrally located in Phoenix. As part of the event, dozens of students from Grand Canyon’s Colangelo School of Sports Business will participate in the development, management and production of Hoophall West as part of their course curriculum.
“This will truly be an exciting event for our state-of-the-art arena and a great experience for our students in the Colangelo School of Sports Business,” said Brian Mueller, president and CEO of Grand Canyon University. “We are thrilled to be hosting this outstanding tournament.”
Tickets for the 2013 Hoophall West will be released at a later date. For more information, log onto www.hoophall.com.
About Grand Canyon University
Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona’s premier private Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited and emphasizes individual attention for both traditional undergraduate students and the working professional in seven colleges: the Ken Blanchard College of Business, the College of Education, the College of Nursing and Health Care Professions, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Theology, the College of Fine Arts and Production, and the College of Doctoral Studies. GCU offers traditional programs on its growing campus, as well as online bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs. The University’s curriculum fuses academic and clinical rigor with Christian values to prepare its students to be skilled, caring professionals. For more information about GCU, visit www.gcu.edu.
About the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
Located in Springfield, Massachusetts, the city where basketball was invented, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame promotes and preserves the game of basketball at every level – professional, collegiate and high school, for both men and women on the global stage.
For more information:
Visit us on the web: www.hoophall.com
… on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BBHOF
… on Twitter: @hoophall
… or call 1-877-4-HOOPLA