Champs back to defend

Men’s Elite Division

Team Atlanta returns to defend its Elite Division title at the 15th annual Hoopfest 3-on-3 street basketball tournament.

The three-time Hoop-It-Up world champions, Team Atlanta returns the same team that won Hoopfest in 2001 and 2003, including 2001 Most Valuable Player Earl Warren and 6-foot-5Jerome “Big Sexy” Shelton.

Rock ‘N Fire – second in 2003 and a perennial top-four finisher – will try to win its first title, along with three-time champs Phat Steppin’. Other contenders include 2003 Hoop It Up World champs Team Passadena and three-time Hoopfest champ Shann Ferch’s NBC Thunder.

Gonzaga stars

Seven former Gonzaga University stars are playing on three teams. Jeremy Eaton, 6-10, Zach Gourde, 6-10, Ryan Floyd, 6-0, and Carl Crider, 6-0, are playing for Wheaton Bank, while Alex Hernandez and Tony Skinner will lace them up for No Mercy. Winston Brooks, a 6-0 guard, is playing in the Six Feet and Under division for Hoop Hearted.

All Pac-10

You could make a pretty good team out of the former University of Washington and Washington State stars playing in Hoopfest’s Elite Division. Among them: Jamie Booker of Hoops Inc, a 6-5 former guard for UW (he also played for the Harlem Globetrotters); Grant Leep of Sasquatch, a 6-7 forward from UW who was second in the nation in three-point shooting his senior year; Clay Damon of Walking Tall, a 6-4 guard and double-figure scorer at UW; Chris Winkler of Rock ‘N Fire, a 6-3 guard and three-year starter at WSU, and possibly the most accomplished player to ever play in Hoopfest, Craig Ehlo of Walking Tall, the former WSU star and 13-year NBA veteran.

All-Big Sky

The Big Sky League is well-represented too, with former stars Kemo Patrick (Eastern Washington University, 6-9) of SpokaneByOwner, Casey Reynolds (Montana State, 6-8) of NBC Thunder, J.R. Camel (Montana, 6-2) and Bo Segeberg (Montana State, 6-10) of Leudtke Construction and Travis Greenwalt (Montana, 6-8) and Jared Buckmaster, (Montana, 6-8) of Greenmasters.

Quick Whits

Since it’s an even year, the smart money might go with Phat Steppin’, featuring three former Whitworth College stars (6-4 Jeff Arkills, 6-2 Nate Williams and 6-6 Nate Dunham) who won the Elite Division crown in 1998, 2000 and 2002. But they might not even be the best Whitworth team in the tournament. Happy Wife Happy Life features Whitworth’s all-time leading scorer Bryan Depew, 6-5, Scott Bierlink, 6-1 and Chase Williams, 6-2, along with Lewis & Clark star John Mietus, 6-7.

Women’s elite

The Phillies return to defend their 2003 championship against a tough field of former college stars. Led by former University of Utah star Lindsay Herbert, the Phillies (runners up in 2002) include two other former Utah players, Sarah Wobbe and Kristi Johnson and North Idaho College’s Simone Shepherd.

Other contenders include three-time champions Ole Eags (they won in 1999, 2000 and 2001 as Maharanee, Red Robin and Zesty Girls), NBC, which features 2002 winner Amy Lemm (who won with Skillz) and former Gonzaga star Sydney Perno and 2003 semifinalist Tufranza, led by former University of Washington stars Megan Franza and 6-4 Andrea Lalum.

Six Feet and Under Elite

Former Gonzaga University point guard Winston Brooks and 2003 MVP Darrell Walker will lead Hoop Hearted in defense of its Six Feet and Under Elite title. The team has added former Eastern Washington University sharpshooter Ryan Hansen. Among the teams that will look to knock them off – last year’s runner-up Team Oakley 1 (Wa-Az Connection in 2003) – led by the tough Bryant Kennedy, and former champions Wandering Bear (‘96 and ‘98) and Basketball Freaks (2000).