Check it out at Hoopfest
Men’s Elite Division
The former Whitworth College stars who won the Hoopfest Elite Championship last year with Happy Wife Happy Life return with a slightly different lineup to defend their title at the 16th annual 3-on-3 street basketball tournament. Six-foot, five-inch Bryan Depew, Whitworth’s all-time leading scorer, returns with Pirates teammates Chase Williams and Scott Bierlink. The 2004 championship game MVP, John Mietus, will not be back. One thing working against them: Whitworth grads have won the title in the last four even-numbered years (Phat Steppin’ in ‘98, ‘00 and ‘02 and Happy Wife in ‘04) but never in the odd years.
Two of those odd-year titles went to Team Atlanta, (2001 and 2003) led by 6-5 Jerome Shelton and speedy 6-1 Earl Warren. The three-time Hoop-It-Up national champs hope their age (Shelton, Warren, Charles Burkett and Bill McNair are all between 37 and 42) doesn’t keep them from another run at the title.
Among the other teams to watch: Team Passadena – The 2003 Hoop It Up champs are led by Milton Banks, a former Harlem Globetrotter; Battle In Seattle – Runners-up at Hoopfest 2004 add former UNLV star and NBA reserve Evric Gray; Rock-n-Fire – perennial Hoopfest finalists led by WSU’s Chris Winkler and sharpshooter Tony Beo; NBC Thunder – with three-time Hoopfest champ Shann Ferch bombing from the outside and former Montana State star Casey Reynolds banging on the inside; Team Fresno – the Amundson brothers have gotten close; Spokane by Owner.com – Jackie Johnson got within one game of the final last year.
Men’s Elite over 6-feet seedings:
1. Happy Wife Happy Life
2. Team Atlanta
3. NBC Thunder
4. Battle in Seattle
5. Rock-N-Fire
6. Team Passadena
7. Spokane by Owner.com
8. Team Fresno
9. Team Name Reloaded
10. Wheatland Bank
11. No Mercy
12. Hallmark Hyundai
13. Walking Tall
14. Tacoma’s Finest
15. Team Brevet
16. Palm Springs Heat
Bulldogs back
Gonzaga University will be well-represented again, with seven recent Bulldogs playing on three teams. Six-foot-10 Jeremy Eaton, 6-7 Mark Spink, and two 6-footers, Ryan Floyd and Carl Crider, will run for Wheaton Bank, while 6-4 Alex Hernandez and 6-5 Tony Skinner are playing on No Mercy and Winston Brooks, a 6-0 guard, is playing in the Six-Feet-and-Under division for the two-time champs, Hoop Hearted.
Among the former Pac-10 stars are WSU’s Craig Ehlo (Walking Tall) whose 13 years of NBA experience (with Houston and Cleveland) are roughly 12 more than any other Hoopfest player; 6-6 Grant Leep (Team Name Reloaded) who led UW in 3-point shooting; and the Huskies’ All-Pac-10 guard Jamie Booker (Hoops Inc.)
EWU’s best
One of the most intriguing new teams is Hallmark Hyundai, made up of four former Eastern Washington University Eagles, led by Brendan Merritt, the versatile 6-4 guard who led EWU to the NCAA Tournament in 2004. Also on the team are 6-0 Jamal Jones, 6-8 Will Levy and smooth 6-10 post Chris White. Three other big scorers from EWU are playing for Kings of the Court (6-6 Kareem Scott), Spokane By Owner.com (6-7 Kemo Patrick) and Hoop Hearted (6-0 Ryan Hansen).
Women’s Elite
The Phillies will try go for a third straight Women’s Elite championship, led by two-time Most Valuable Player Lindsay Herbert, a former star at the University of Utah, who teamed with former Utes Kristi Johnson and Sarah Wobbe and North Idaho College’s Simone Shepherd to win in 2003 and 2004.
To win, they’ll have to go through another three-time champ, Old Eags, who won under different names in 1999, 2000 and 2001 with former EWU players Lori Napier, Jennifer Sutter and Nicole King.
Among the new teams that should challenge for the title are GU Ballas, four members of the 2005 Gonzaga University women’s team, which was undefeated in WCC play – leading scorer Ashley Burke, career assist leader Shannon Matthews, four-year starter Raeanna Jewell and 6-foot 4-inch center Delph Lecoultre.
Other contenders include Game Time, with 2002 winners Amy Lemm of Moscow and Charlene Simril; and Sharkies, with former Gonzaga University star Syd Perno teaming up with three recent Whitworth College players, Sarah Shogren, Dani Bielec and Tiffany Speer. Other teams to watch include United Tribes, with Jaci McCormack, who led Illinois State University to the NCAA Tournament this year, Portland State star Nikki Petticrew’s Center Court Bound, and Mango, made up of former Pacific University players.
Six Feet and Under
Hoop Hearted will try to become the first team to win three Six-Feet-and-Under championships as they return to defend their 2003 and 2004 titles. The 2005 team features former Whitworth guard Eric Avery, GU’s Winston Brooks, 2003 MVP Darrell Walker and EWU’s Ryan Hansen, who had 17 points in the 2004 championship game and was the game’s MVP.
Among the other contenders:
Desert Horse – with former University of Montana star JR Camel; Four Guys – Onetime UM point guard Sam Riddle nearly won in 2004; WA-AZ Connection – Scoring machine Bryant Kennedy has come close twice; Brillo – Jarod Tait and Brodie Kelly won in 1996 and ‘98; Slingers – Aaron and Brian Holsinger won it in 2000.