Janelle Bekkering, a former Gonzaga star, brings back an All-Calgary team, including longtime friend Stephanie Price (Lethbridge University) and Kimberly Lee (Waterloo University).

Nigel Williams-Goss, the All-American who led to Bulldogs to the national title game in 2017, was back in Spokane Friday, giving a one-hour skills camp on the eve of the world’s largest 3-on-3 tournament.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • There are many good weekends around here. Memorial Day weekend is always fun. Labor Day weekend means college football is beginning. The weekend that includes Thanksgiving always is memorable. Pretty much any July or August weekend is worthwhile. But the best one? That’s this weekend. Hoopfest weekend. Read on.

In an elite division littered with ex-college stars, Parker Kelly, who helped EWU reach the 2015 NCAA tournament, believes a championship repeat will be an even tougher pursuit.

The Sky Ride at Riverfront Park will have its official opening this Friday at 10 a.m., just in time for Hoopfest. “We couldn’t miss this opportunity,” said Jon Moog, director of Riverfront Park. “People from all over the United States come to participate at Hoopfest, and it’s just a really good opportunity to showcase our city.”

More than 6,000 teams will face off in downtown Spokane this weekend for the region’s annual 3-on-3 basketball tournament, Hoopfest.

The Basketball Tournament schedule-makers appear to have a keen sense of TBT’s short history as well as the best rivalry in the West Coast Conference. Sixth-seeded Few Good Men, which includes six former Zags, opens the winner-take-all, $2 million tournament against No. 11 Team Utah at approximately 7 p.m. in the Hoopfest pod at Lewis and Clark High.

A decade before starring at Fresno State and signing a $60 million contact with the Miami Heat, Johnson attended Spokane’s Hamblen, Adams and Sunrise elementary schools as his mother, Jennifer Johnson, worked in aviation resource management at Fairchild Air Force Base.

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Yesterday was another tough day for fans of Washington State football. Heck, for all of us, really. Once again we are trying to answer a question that has deep import: How the heck do we get our arms around the effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy? Read on.