Stone Mountain gym hosts summer basketball
On the Radar Hoops hosted The Opening—a one-day AAU basketball event for 16u and 17u teams—in metro Atlanta, and the International Sports Arena in Stone Mountain was one of the venues hosting games.
On the Radar Hoops and the different gym staffs involved established capacity and entrance guidelines due to COVID-19. Procedures included checking each person’s temperature before he or she entered, providing sanitizer, no concessions, limiting gym occupancy to 100 people—including players, coaches and staff—and requiring everyone to leave the gym after each game.
“I felt comfortable,” said Team Speights Elite Coach John Bianchi. “I felt like they did the best they could, and it was a good event. They made sure to follow safety precautions, for sure. I think it was [worth playing]. A lot of schools watched both of our games.”
According to Shun Williams, owner of On the Radar Hoops, more than 150 college coaches watched the live stream of The Opening. Bianchi said playing in front of college coaches was important, because some of the players on the 17u teams are playing in showcases for the last time and might not have another opportunity to play in front of college coaches.
“You never know how many more chances they’ll get, so this was definitely a big one for them,” Bianchi said. “I know the team was very appreciative of it.”
AAU events usually feature teams from one circuit, or shoe brand, but The Opening had Nike, Under Armour and Adidas teams from states across the southeast.
Players from DeKalb County—such as Chase Cormier—took part in the event. Cormier played with Game Elite after leading Greenforest McCalep Christian Academy to the state championship game last high school season.
Cormier played alongside national recruits such as Scoot Henderson—who scored 49 points to eliminate Miller Grove High School from the playoffs last season—and Joyful Hawkins.
Game Elite’s first game was against Cormier’s former AAU team, the Atlanta Celtics. In their second game, Cormier had 17 points, four steals and three assists.
Many teams plan to be back in action July 3-5 at The Tip-Off Classic in Suwanee.
