3rd Annual Basketball Showdown Event Returning to Loganville July 28th 2012

(Editor's Note: This is contributed by Brandon Clay)

For the third straight years stars from the basketball world will be coming to Loganville to help raise money for a great cause. This year the event is expected to surpass even the past two events with more games, an incredible silent auction and many top players from the GHSA, NCAA and Global professional basketball who are scheduled to appear to July 28^th at Loganville High School in a benefit event to raise funds for the American Cancer Society and tickets will be $10 and available at the door.

The event will feature Five Basketball games this year with a heavy emphasis on local stars leading up to the main event game. The first game will be at 11am and will be a Loganville High School Alumni Basketball Game featuring past LHS stars returning to the gymnasium.

The second game is scheduled for 1pm and will feature a Loganville Celtics reunion game seeing players from the past ten years competing against each other as a celebration of the program’s success over the last ten seasons. Players scheduled to appear in the Celtics reunion game include Eric Boss, Hampton Hudson, Hunter Brannan, Jordan Wyton, Joseph Hatchett, Mitch Owen, and Zach Hyers. The event will also feature the return of the Celtics second all-time leading scorer and all-time assist leader Chris Hart.

The third game will be a Walton County Future Stars game and will take place at 3pm. The Future Stars game will feature Walton County’ star players from the 2013 Class facing off against the stars from the 2014 class. Stars are scheduled to appear from all of the schools from the county in the game.

The events fourth game will feature the 2012 Walton County Senior Class facing off against the “Walton County Legends” team which will be led by players from all of the counties schools. The county will see players who graduated this Spring including Brian Pearson, Darius Still, Jimias Malcom, Kyle Baker, and Logan Duncan compete against past players from the schools in Walton County. Some of the Walton County legends scheduled to appear include Chris Roach, DeMario Young, Dillon Satterfield, Maritea Duke, Mitch Lee, Ron Morrow, and Tyler Gunnett.

The Main Event Basketball Showdown Benefit Game will be tipping off at 730pm and is expected to be an incredible event. This year the event will feature star graduated players from the GHSA including several players ranked in the Top 100 Nationally such as Chris Bolden from North Gwinnett High School. Stars from the NCAA are scheduled to appear in the event as well. The University of Georgia will be represented well by Chris Barnes and Tyler Whatley. Also appearing are UGA Legends Gerald Robinson Jr. and Levi Stukes who each scored over 1,000 points in the SEC. 

Appearing from the ACC will be Jordan DeMercy who played collegiately at Florida State University. Josiah Moore from the University of Nebraska will be appearing at the event. Saah Nimley of Charleston Southern who earned Freshmen All American Honors will be appearing. Former Stillman College star and Professional basketball player RJ Hofler will also be participating in the event.

Sons of NBA Legends who were also collegiate stars in their own right will be appearing. Antron Pippen former star of Texas A&M and son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen will be appearing. Glen Rice Jr. former leading scorer at Georgia Tech and the son of NBA Champion and legend Glen Rice will be appearing as well.

Several local stars will be appearing in the game as well. College stars John Harris and Byron Stufken will be appearing in the Main Event Showdown. Former Grayson star Derrick Pope will be making his debut appearance at the event. South Gwinnett graduate and multiple Slam Dunk contest champion Roman Lawson will be making his third appearance in the event. Walnut Grove’s Nick Peters the leading scorer in school history will be playing in the Man Event game. Ken Jackson the Region 8-AAA player of the year from Monroe Area High School will be appearing in the event as well. Oliver Banks who helped lead Loganville High School to the State Tournament and ultimately the Sweet 16 will be appearing.

The event will be accompanied by a Silent Auction. Auction items include autographed footballs from Tim Tebow and Vince Dooley and memorabilia from Larry Munson. Also included is Mark Richt autographed memorabilia and a Duke University game used basketball with the Duke Seal imprinted on it. Many entertainment and Metro Atlanta attractions will be available at the event as well. Vacation packages from the Southeast and Cancun and the Bahamas will be available for bidding.

In each of the last two years games the games ended in overtime thrillers. In the 2010 event Avery Jukes who had just participated in the national title game for Butler University, scored 30 points and led his team to victory. Ebuka Anyaorah from the University of Georgia set a record 38 points. In the 2011 event Travis Leslie from the LA Clippers attended and scored 38 points but was outshone when Nebraska’s Josiah Moore scored 41 points and John Harris scored 50 points as the game ended 158-156.

Tickets will be available at the door for $10 each and the ticket entitles people to admission to all the events game and access to the Silent Auction as well. The Main Event Game will tipoff at 730pm and more information is available at the event website www.BasketballShowdown.Org