The City League hopes to be new Dust Bowl, place for Indianapolis summer basketball
The seventh season of The City League gets underway Wednesday night at Boner Fitness & Legacy Center next door to Tech High School.
The names of the players are familiar to basketball fans. Marquis Teague. D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera. Trevon Bluiett. Bria Goss. Amber Harris. But the actual basketball is just part of the experience of the league, which is designed to fill a void of community with music, food and friendship.
“The idea is to create something special for the city,” said Austin Taylor, the founder and executive director of the league. “Kids who might not be able to afford a Pacers game have high level basketball in the neighborhood they can come watch. There is a lot of other stuff going on, too. It’s a community event that might not be as prevalent as they used to be. That’s been cool for me to see.”
It is the spirit of the “Dust Bowl” that Taylor hopes The City League can carry on. The Dust Bowl, originally a dirt court located at Lockefield Gardens on the near west side, became the basketball center of Indianapolis in the 1940s through the 1970s as many of the city’s best players gathered there for pickup games and an annual structured tournament. The Dust Bowl location was lost with the creation of IUPUI, though the Dust Bowl tournament continued on through the 1990s.
“We talk about trying to carry on that legacy of the Dust Bowl,” Taylor said. “We want to create a community space around basketball and we brought on some of those players like Bill Hampton and Ron Rutland to talk about that time. New York has Rucker Park, Los Angeles has the Drew League, Washington D.C. has the Goodman League. We used to have the Dust Bowl. We’re trying to recreate that and fill that void.”
The league, made up of 12 men’s teams and seven women’s teams, will be played every Wednesday and Thursday with league play starting this week through Aug. 3. The end-of-season tournament is the following week. Teams are limited to four current or former professional or Division I players for the sake of parity.
“We have 12 really competitive teams,” Taylor said of the men’s league. “And I think our women’s teams might be even more high-profile. There really isn’t another place for the best women’s players to play.”
The games start at 6 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. A look at the rosters and most recognizable players on each roster:
MEN
Mambos Cheesesteak Grill
Marquis Teague*: (Pike) Kentucky / NBA
John Hart: (Beech Grove ) Purdue - IUPUI / Canada
Darius Adams: (Decatur, Ill.) UIndy / Overseas
Anthony Murdock LLC
Eron Harris: (Lawrence North) West Virginia - Michigan State / Overseas
Marcus Fillyaw: (Topeka, Kan.) Southern Illinois / Overseas
Travis Clark: Evanston, Ill.) Lake Forest College / Overseas
PIVOT League
Antoine Clifton: (Avon) IU-Kokomo
Trey Spivey: (Warren Central) IU-Kokomo
Malachi Mozee: (Broad Ripple)
Big Brothers Big Sisters
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera (North Central) Georgetown / Overseas
Kelsey Barlow: (Cathedral) Purdue / Overseas
Skip Mills: (North Central) Ball State / Overseas
Midwest Cash Offer
Ron Patterson*: (Broad Ripple) Syracuse - IUPUI
Trevon Bluiett*: (Park Tudor) Xavier / G-League
Zavier Turner: (Pike) Ball State
Kelz Hoop
Pat Bacon: (Lawrence North) University of Tampa / Overseas
Josh Brewer: (Ben Davis) Miami (OH)
Justin Thomas: (Pike) Northern Illinois
USA First Financial
Jeff Teague*: (Pike) Wake Forest / NBA
Andre Owens*: (Perry Meridian) Indiana / NBA
Asauhn Dixon-Tatum: (Anderson Highland) Auburn / G-League
Ref Reps
DaShawn Wright: (Gary West) San Jose State
Alan Arnett: (Kokomo) IPFW / Overseas
Tyren Tillman: (Richmond) Overseas
Press Play Gaming Lounge
TJ Henderson: (Scecina) IUPUI / Overseas
Josh Thompson: (Lawrence North) Ball State / TBL
Jakobie Robinson: (Warren Central) UIndy
Navy
Gary McGhee: (Anderson Highland) Pittsburgh/ Overseas
Devin Thomas: (Richmond) Indiana State / Overseas
Zac Owens: (Crispus Attucks) Bethel / Overseas
North Mass Boulder
Tayler Persons*: (Kokomo) Ball State / Overseas
Joey Brunk*: (Southport) Butler/Indiana/Ohio State / Overseas
Daeshon Francis: (Lawrence North) Wisconsin-Green Bay / Overseas
Outreach Indiana
Marcus Burk: (Franklin Central) IUPUI / G-League
RJ Mahurin: (Rockville) Indiana State
Jonathan Nwankwo: (Brooklyn) Kent State
WOMEN
Horizon League
Bria Goss*: (Ben Davis - Miss Basketball ‘11) Kentucky / WNBA
DeAirra Goss*: (Ben Davis) Western Michigan - IUPUI
Breauna Lloyd: (Hamilton Southeastern) Wright State
Law Office of Carman Malone
Porchia Green*: (Arlington) Ball State / Overseas
Dee Dee Williams*: (Ben Davis) Purdue / Overseas
Dejah Cyrus: (Marion) Marian University
Bedel Financial
Calisha Clark: (Columbus East) Coastal Carolina
Kelsey Key: (Frankton) Northern Kentucky Indiana Wesleyan
McKenzy Telfair: (Cardinal Ritter) Indiana State
Artistry Studios
Sharika Webb*: (Cathedral) Purdue:
Ae’Rianna Harris*: (Lawrence North) Purdue
Jessica Wright*: (Cathedral) Illinois
Damien Center
Amber Harris*: (North Central - Miss Basketball ‘06) Xavier / WNBA
Grace Hales: (Westview) Valparaiso
Coco Moore*: (Lawrence North ) SIU – Edwardsville
Cancer Support Community
Lindsay Erba: (Warsaw) Toledo
Aimee Book: (Waimae College) Fresno State
LaRae Rascoe: (Pike) Alcorn State
Indy Pro Tow
Brandy Nirider (Western Boone) Ball State
Taylor Griffith (Higginbotham): (Germantown, WI) Western Illinois
Jasmine McGhee: (Anderson) Indiana
*Indiana All-Star
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis' The City League features former pros, college stars
