The Tulsa 3 on 3 basketball tournament will debut at the Gathering Place in less than a month.
The tournament is sponsored by the Hardesty Family Foundation and opens with a community event Sept. 6. Games will be Sept. 7 and 8 on the park's sport courts, with teams in six adult and youth divisions competing for the Wayman Tisdale trophy.
Team registration is open for three weeks, and organizers are hoping for 80 teams.
Gathering Place Executive Director Tony Moore said the game is growing in popularity.
"The Olympics commission have officially accepted three-on-three as an Olympic medaled event, and here in the U.S., Ice Cube has a three-on-three tournament that’s also growing with great popularity," Moore said.
Prestige Sports Marketing President and CEO Thomas Roscoe said he scouted similar events across the country in planning Tulsa’s tournament.
"I just want this tournament to be great for the City of Tulsa, be great and grow every year so that we can build this to be one of the branded events like it has been in Spokane," Roscoe said.
Roscoe said the tournament will attract a variety of high-level players, and there might be some pros that stop by to sign autographs and talk to players and fans.
Saul White Jr., the Harlem Globetrotter who goes by Flip, will be there. White said the tournament will be more than a competition.
"It doesn’t matter how old, doesn’t matter what color you are or what race you are, you’ll love the game of basketball. Makes you fall in love with the game of basketball. So, it’s great to come and be a part of the 3 on 3 tournament and bring the community and everything together," White said.
Organizers want Tulsa’s tournament to eventually grow into a two-week event.
