Summer basketball tourneys to tip off

Some love him and some despise him, but just about everybody associated with high school basketball holds a certain level of respect for Sonny Vaccaro.

Known as a shrewd businessman and a relentless promoter, Vaccaro has helped turn summer ball into an institution. His Big Time tournament brought the nation's top college prospects to Las Vegas for 12 summers, drawing NCAA coaches, scouts, media and fans from all over the country.

So something will be missing when the buses roll into the parking lots of high schools throughout the valley this weekend. For the first time in a dozen years, Vaccaro will not be part of the festivities. The former Las Vegas resident relinquished his summer promotional duties in February, perhaps to return next year.

Nevertheless, summer amateur basketball remains alive and well, as the five-day Reebok Summer Championships debut today to fill the void left by Vaccaro's hiatus.

"Sonny did have a lot of connections," event director Jim Allen said. "But so does (Reebok director of basketball) Chris Rivers. Chris is the grass-roots basketball person for Reebok. He has a relationship with these kids and these teams."

Rivers, who also helped coordinate the Big Time tourney, suggests Vaccaro's absence will hardly be noticed.

"Reebok has been extremely supportive," Rivers said of the transition. "We're still involved in basketball. A tournament like this helps kids and it also helps Reebok."

That might be the bottom line. Nike and adidas will roll their own events into town at precisely the same time. Nike's Main Event, the adidas Super 64 and the Reebok tourney each run today through Thursday.

Such corporate involvement has provided plenty of fuel for critics of Vaccaro and his colleagues over the years. They have argued that big money has turned amateur basketball into a commercial spectacle that thrives at the expense of young players.

Though he's long been a rival of Vaccaro, Main Event coordinator Hal Pastner said such criticism is unjustified.

"I thought Sonny did a good job," Pastner said. "He was the original guy who started all of this. Without him as a pioneer, we probably wouldn't have this opportunity. The critics are all worried about the elite players, but I take issue with them."

Pastner pointed out that countless NCAA and NBA stars have been discovered through summer competition, and he believes that most participants play by the rules.

"Let's talk about the thousands of kids and coaches doing something good," Pastner said. "I really commend all the coaches. Ninety-eight percent of these guys have good hearts. We just give them a chance to do something with their kids. I wish I had something like this when I was a kid. It would have been the most exciting thing in the world to me."

Ron Montoya, director of the adidas Super 64 tournament, is well aware of the care that must be taken to avoid being labeled as an opportunistic con man willing to exploit innocent young men. Though he wasn't specifically critical of Vaccaro, he did acknowledge that he doesn't mind having the game's top promoter out of the picture.

"It's just a relief to me that people aren't able to call my tournament an imposter tournament," said Montoya, who also is the principal at Valley High School. "Otherwise, I really don't care."

But Vaccaro's influence lives on, and this year's tournaments have continued to grow behind the momentum he helped create.

All three tournaments will open with pool play featuring elite divisions, meaning some of the best competition will occur over the first two days. Each tournament will culminate with championship games, which could match some of the country's most promising prep players against one another.

The 224-team Reebok tourney, which will use Foothill High as its headquarters, will feature top prospects Brandon Jennings of the SoCal All Stars, William Buford of the D-1 Greyhounds, Romero Osby of Southeast Elite and Renaldo Woolridge of Belmont Shores.

The 702-team Main Event will use Durango High as its hub and will feature several games at Cox Pavilion today. Willie Warren of Team Texas will lead the field, which includes players as young as 9 years old.

The adidas Super 64 also will feature games today at Cox Pavilion but will use Rancho High as its primary facility. The Pump-N-Run Elite's Jrue Holiday, Indiana Elite's Tyler Zeller and the Las Vegas Prospects' Luke Babbitt will highlight the 128-team field.

Despite the abundance of top-100 players scheduled to compete in the week's events, Montoya said he views the lesser-known players as the top beneficiaries.

"These tournaments give guys a chance to play in college," he said. "Without AAU basketball, numerous kids would not go to college on full scholarships."