Rising costs compel Slam Dunk to the Beach high school basketball showcase to skip 2024
The rapidly escalating cost of attracting the nation’s top teams has prompted the Slam Dunk to the Beach high school basketball showcase to take a year off.
The event has been held annually between Christmas and New Year’s Day at Cape Henlopen High School since 2014. The Delaware Sports Commission, which operates Slam Dunk to the Beach, announced Friday that the event will take “a temporary hiatus.”
“The short answer is the cost of operating in that space has increased,” said DSC chairman Matthew Robinson, who has been integral in the event’s operation the last 10 years. “We’ve been fortunate over the years to be able to get the teams that we have within the budget that we have.
“We’ve had to pass on teams because of the cost in the past, and that is becoming more and more of a reality.”
Robinson said Slam Dunk has always provided a travel stipend, lodging and some meals for each of the participating teams. But in recent years, Robinson said the top teams with nationally ranked players who will likely go on to play at major colleges and in the NBA have been requiring additional money to commit to a trip to Delaware.
“We’re competing against tournaments that have greater potential for funding,” Robinson said. “And you now have the NBA sanctioning events that their scouts are allowed to go to. The better teams are going to be attracted to those events.”
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Current NBA players Cam Reddish (Los Angeles Lakers), Salesianum’s Donte DiVincenzo (New York Knicks), Dereck Lively II (Dallas Mavericks), Jonathan Kuminga (Golden State Warriors), Immanuel Quickley (Toronto Raptors), Mo Bamba (Philadelphia 76ers) and Naz Reid (Minnesota Timberwolves) are among the stars who have taken the court at Cape Henlopen over the last decade.
Some of the nation’s most recognizable current and former college basketball coaches have also come to recruit those players, and Sussex County basketball fans have been able to see Villanova’s Jay Wright, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, Kentucky’s John Calipari and Connecticut’s Danny Hurley over the years.
“That’s what we promised. That’s what we delivered,” Robinson said. “Now, it’s a case of can we do that? And if we can’t, we don’t want to cheapen what this tournament has been.”
Slam Dunk already decreased the number of games and number of teams involved over the last couple of years.
Robinson said the event has benefitted from its location in attracting some of the best teams from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. But the faraway teams have always been the biggest draw.
“We did the surveys every year, what did people want,” Robinson said. “It was elite teams, elite players. Without that, we’re just another tournament. And I don’t think that’s what we wanted to be. We had that conversation.”
So, the event will not be held in 2024 as the DSC contemplates the future.
“We’ve built up a nice little reserve. We’re sound financially,” Robinson said. “Let’s take a step back. Is there a different way we could be doing this? Is there a different idea? Is it going to change?”
“This is the time of year that we start making commitments to teams, begin to reach out of our sponsors,” Robinson added. “I just said, ‘I think it’s more prudent if we took a step back, assess and then determine the best way of moving forward, whatever that might be. And right now, that’s an open-ended question.”
Contact Brad Myers at bmyers@delawareonline.com. Follow on X (aka Twitter): @BradMyersTNJ
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Slam Dunk to the Beach high school basketball showcase to skip 2024
