Dickau, Morrison return for charity game

Fifty thousand.

No, that’s not how many combined points have been scored in the last two defense-optional Dan Dickau charity basketball games. That’s the amount of money event promoter John Hines estimates the game has raised for Spokane-area charities.

The third edition of the Toyota All-American’s Charity Classic returns to Gonzaga’s McCarthey Athletic Center at 7 p.m. Thursday with Dickau a co-headliner with ex-Zag Adam Morrison, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2006 draft who scored 28 points in last year’s contest. Hines said ticket sales have been strong and entries are almost full for Dickau’s celebrity charity poker tournament Wednesday at Northern Quest Casino.

“By moving the game back from late July to August, we’ve already sold more tickets than we did for last year’s game,” Hines said. “We have about 2,500 tickets left. I think we’ll have a great walk-up and possibly sell out and far exceed what we’ve done in the past.”

Same thing applies for the poker tournament.

“The poker was an event that broke even,” Hines said. “This year we’re almost full with the player list, so that will have a big impact on the amount of money we give to charities.”

When the charity game was initiated, Dickau said he wanted to give it three years to establish itself.

“At the end of three years, we’d refocus and see if it was worth continuing to do,” said Dickau, who was traded from Portland to New York on draft day. “The way it’s been growing has been great and hopefully it’s an event we can continue to do past this year. It really makes it worthwhile and hopefully the community enjoys it and will continue to support it.”

The addition of Morrison, the former Mead High standout who will be entering his second season with the Charlotte Bobcats, has helped boost interest in the game.

“It made a lot of sense since Adam played in the game last year and it gives us a little bit of a marketing ability that he’s part of the event,” Hines said. “I think it was just a natural fit and Dan has always had discussions that when Adam was ready he’d be involved.”

The game, which has seen scores of 181-155 and 141-135, features NBA players and ex-Zags. A tentative list of NBA players expected to join Dickau and Morrison includes Luke Ridnour, Robert Swift, Jannero Pargo (older brother of current GU guard Jeremy Pargo), Ime Udoka, Freddie Jones, Danny Granger and Casey Jacobsen.

Derek Raivio, Tony Skinner, Richie Frahm, Matt Santagelo, Kyle Bankhead and Ryan and Colin Floyd are among the former Zags likely to participate.

Hines said Ronny Turiaf (France) and J.P. Batista (Brazil) have commitments with their respective national teams.

“I couldn’t tell you exactly who’s coming, but a lot of guys have told me they’ll be there and I think we’re going to have as good a roster as we’ve ever had,” Dickau said.