Great American Shootout Begins Today

[UNTLifer]

DRC

Summer is the time to relax, swim, vacation and earn a college scholarship. For some anyway.

DRC/Gary Payne

Denton High basketball players Chris Johnson, left and Walter Coleman shoot around on Wednesday at the Purple Pit. The players are preparing to play in the Great American Shootout summer basketball tournament today.

More than 2,000 kids will showcase their talents at the Great American Shootout in Denton area gyms this weekend, many under the watchful eyes of college coaches and scouts; others, simply trying to hone their skills and improve as a team before next season.

Summer basketball may appear to be just for fun, but at times it can be more important than playing during the school year.

“Sometimes summer ball can get a bad rep, but sometimes it’s more important than the high school season,” said Ervin Davis, head coach of Dallas Showtyme Silver and graduate assistant for the North Texas men’s basketball team. “Summer is huge for coaches and scouts because you can pay to go see a ton of prospects in one place rather than traveling just to see one. It’s a tremendous opportunity to showcase your talent. There is a lot hanging in the balance in these summer tournaments because a lot of these kids won’t get to go to college without basketball.”

That’s one of the reasons Mike Kunstadt, founder of texashoops.com, began putting on “shootouts” in Denton and San Antonio.

“The biggest reason is because of what you saw the other night,” Kunstadt said. “Eight or nine Texas kids got drafted in the NBA draft. The amount of talent and potential in this state is amazing. It’s good for kids and it’s a good business to be in.”

Teams from as far away as Illinois and South Florida will arrive this weekend with players trying to join the ranks of recently drafted Deron Williams, Jason Maxiell and C.J. Miles. The Utah Jazz drafted Williams, who played for the Fort Worth Lions in the Denton shootout, along with Miles. The Detroit Pistons selected Maxiell, from Carrolton Newman Smith.

“If you really look at the last 10-15 years, a lot of guys that play high-level college basketball and in the NBA have come through the Denton shootout,” said Kunstadt, adding T.J. Ford, Kenyon Martin and Greg Ostertag to the list.

College coaches such as Texas Tech’s Bob Knight and North Carolina’s Roy Williams have been fixtures at the shootout in recent years. The July dates make it easy for the top-notch coaches to get away and see some of the best players in the nation up close.

“They [college coaches] simply have the time in the summer,” Kunstadt said. “There are no college basketball games in the summer. They can’t really go out during the school year because that’s the middle of their season, too. They’re worried about winning basketball games, not recruiting.”

UNT head coach Johnny Jones has taken advantage of having a top summer event in Denton and signed several players who participated in the shootout over the last few years, including Justin Barnett, Michael Sturns and Quincy Williams. Harold Stewart and Justin Howerton, two members of UNT’s 2005 recruiting class, also played in the tournament.

“Tournaments are extremely important because you get to see a lot of teams in a short amount of time, Jones said. “You get to evaluate a lot of kids playing against good competition. You don’t always get that in high school.”

Getting those coaches to notice his players is what makes the effort worthwhile for Davis.

“I get to see a lot of kids grow up and get scholarships and succeed beyond high school,” Davis said. “That means a lot to me.”

Davis, who is joined by his brother and former UNT superstar Chris Davis in coaching Showtyme, deserves some kind of reward for the work he puts in. For Davis, as with any other coach running a summer league team, it is nearly a full-time job to take care of everything surrounding the squad.

“It takes 20-25 hours a week to do,” Davis said. “You have to deal with the financial side and getting the money to go to the tournaments, plus we practice maybe three times a week.”

But it’s worth it. Dallas Showtyme has built up a pretty impressive list of alumni in recent years. From last year’s team alone, Showtyme had Marquez Haynes sign with Boston College, Jonathan Amos with Toledo and Stewart with UNT. Miles is also a former Davis pupil as is Sturns.

“It takes a lot of these guys’ own time and money so you’ve got to give them a lot of credit for what they do,” Kunstadt said. “These teams travel all over the country during the summer and that’s not easy.”

This weekend’s shootout is one of four tournaments Showtyme will compete in this summer.

The Denton Bronx and head coach Michael Thomas, son of former Denton head coach Henry Thomas, take a different approach to summer league ball. It’s not all about getting noticed by scouts for the team composed of exclusively Denton High School players.

“We do it to try to keep the mentality of playing together going throughout the summer and get better at the team concept,” Thomas said.

The idea paid dividends last year when Denton won 20 games and made the playoffs for the first time in 14 years.

“That was the first time we had all the seniors there and playing on the summer team and they turned the program around by making the playoffs last year,” Thomas said. “I’ve been around him [Henry Thomas] and his system my whole life so the kids are getting the same in the summer as they do during the school year.”

The same can be said for this year’s squad despite the departure of Henry Thomas. Newly hired head coach Harold Jackson said he will keep the same system in place as he helped install it alongside Thomas as an assistant coach for the past four years.

Improving for the school season is a goal shared by many area teams. Liberty, Argyle, Ponder and Ryan will all have teams competing this weekend as well.

“I don’t know if it [summer ball] is more important than the school season,” Kunstadt said. “Playing for your high school team is still an important learning experience, but as far as college goes, the summer is very important.”

Regardless of the reason, summer basketball appears far more useful than working on a tan. Whether the extra effort turns into a college scholarship or a state championship, proof that it is worthwhile will be on display beginning today.

JAKE FLOYD can be reached at 940-566-6873. His e-mail address is jfloyd@dentonrc.com.

Pool play schedule for area teams

Friday

Denton Bronx vs. Colorado X-Press, 3:25 p.m. Argyle HS 1

Liberty Warriors vs. Weatherford Kangaroos, 4:50 p.m. TWU 2

Denton Ryan Raiders vs. Dallas Longhorns, 4:50 p.m. Ryan HS 2

Fort Worth FIRM vs. North Texas Wildcats, 6:15 p.m. Denton HS 2

Saturday

Denton Bronx vs. Richardson Mustangs, 10:15 a.m. Crownover MS 1

Liberty Warriors vs. All For One, One For All 1, 10:15 a.m. Strickland MS 2

Denton Ryan Raiders vs. Midlothian, 11:35 a.m. Ryan HS 1

CenTex Heat vs. North Texas Wildcats, 11:35 a.m. Denton HS 2

Denton Bronx vs. Katy Tigers 1, 3:25 p.m. Crownover MS 1

H-Town Wolves vs. Liberty Warriors, 3:25 p.m. Strickland MS 1

Denton Ryan Raiders vs. Lufkin, 4:45 p.m. Ryan HS 3

Kansas Elite vs. Ponder Lions, 6 p.m. Strickland MS 1

Edited July 8, 2005 by UNTLifer