As the team lineup for another capacity field is completed this week, event officials have begun final preparations for Sonny Vaccaro’s 11th Annual Reebok Big Time tournament, the nation’s largest and most prestigious boy’s prep summer basketball tournament. Held in Las Vegas ever since it was founded in 1995, this year’s ‘Championship of the Summer’ will be held July 22-26, featuring 304 teams from around the U.S. and Canada.

While the final few slots in this year’s tournament are being finalized, teams have entered to date from 42 U.S. States and the District of Columbia along with seven from Canada among the official entries.

Growing from a modest 64 teams when the tournament was founded by basketball marketing guru Sonny Vaccaro in 1995, the tournament peaked at 400 in 2003. Last year, tournament officials reduced the number to 336 before arriving at this year’s number of 304. As the tournament has grown, the waiting list has grown as well.

This year’s Reebok Big Time will feature 755 games over five days, played at 12 Clark County School District sites in Southern Nevada, 10 with two courts each and two with one each for a total of 22 courts.

"The response from the basketball community for the Reebok Big Time Tournament has once again been phenomenal and we are looking forward to hosting all of these great youngsters in Las Vegas in July," said Vaccaro. "We have some tremendous teams returning and some new ones that will be equally impressive."

"As we begin our second decade of producing the Reebok Big Time Tournament," Vaccaro added. "I’m in awe of where we are today. To be sure, it was our goal to have the biggest and the best summer basketball experience for these gifted young athletes, but we never imagined the incredible impact this event would have across the country. A waiting list again this year speaks volumes about the quality of this tournament."

The event staff of nearly 300 is being directed by Larry McKay and Jim Allen, who have co-directed the tournament since it began in 1995.

At the 2005 Reebok Big Time, the ‘Champions of the Summer’ will be crowned in five different divisions: Open, A, B, C, and the High School category, which began last year.

The field includes all five defending champions: Open-Spiece Indy Heat; A-Positive Image-Pennsylvania; B-Chico Tarheels-California; C-Basketballtown Pharoahs-Calif.; and HS-Arkansas Hawks. The Hawks, however, have moved up to the Open Division for this year and the A, B, and C champs could be in different divisions based on their record during pool play at this year’s tournament.

This year’s marquee Open tournament will again feature 112 teams, including 64 top pre-seeded teams, while the A, B, C and High School tournaments will each have 48-team tournaments. All the single-elimination tournaments will be preceded by three games of pool play during the first two days in the tournament.

The 64 top pre-seeded teams will be in the Open Division and they will be joined by the first place teams from 48 four-team pools. The A Division will have the second place teams from the 48 pools while the B Division will have the third place teams and the C Division will be comprised of the fourth place pool teams. The High School Division will be the 48 teams entered in that division who will be placed in the tournament bracket based on their results from pool play.

Foothill High School, in suburban Henderson, Nev., returns as the tournament headquarters and the other primary site for Open Division games will nearby Basic High School. Championship games in all five tournament divisions will be held at Foothill HS on Tuesday, July 26. The marquee Open Division title game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

Besides Foothill and Basic, the other sites in Henderson will be Coronado High School and Mannion Middle School while the sites in Las Vegas will be Del Sol HS, Las Vegas HS, Liberty HS, Miller Middle School, Palo Verde HS and Silverado HS. The tournament sites in North Las Vegas will be Cheyenne HS and Mojave HS. This will be the first time that Del Sol, Mannion and Miller will be tournament sites.

Daily general admission tickets, $10 each, will be good for all games at all sites. They will be available at the door at each site.

College Sports TV will produce a 90-minute Special, filmed in High Definition, about the event. The ‘Summer Special’ will provide an in-depth look at the individuals, teams and the overall experience of the incredible five-day event.

For more information, contact the tournament office in Las Vegas at 702.373.7007 or visit the official website of the Reebok Big Time tournament at www.reebokbigtime.com.

Open Division
1995 Team New Orleans
1996 Illinois Warriors I
1997 DC Assault I-Maryland
1998 Michigan Mustangs
1999 New Orleans Jazz
2000 Atlanta Celtics I
2001 Long Island Panthers-New York
2002 New York Ravens
2003 Atlanta Celtics
2004 Spiece Indy Heat

A Division
1995 Illinois Warriors II
1996 Bronx Ravens
1997 Dakota Schoolers
1998 LA Rockfish Orcas
1999 Valentino’s Bison Red-Nebraska
2000 Friends of Hoop Black-Seattle
2001 Portland Elite Legends
2002 Stop Six-Texas
2003 Crusaders-Nebraska
2004 Positive Image-Pennsylvania

B Division
1997 Emerald City-Seattle
1998 Wisconsin Shooters
1999 Northern Stars-South Dakota
2000 Derek Smith All Stars Black-Ky.
2001 Arizona Stars
2002 SSA-Sacramento Platinum
2003 Northwest Ohio Bball Club
2004 Chico Tarheels-California

C Division
1999 Packers Blue-Washington State
2000 Tru-Playaz-Colorado
2001 The Firm-Texas
2002 Seattle Friends of Hoop-Green
2003 Marlins-California
2004 Basketballtown Pharoahs-California

HS Division
2004 Arkansas Hawks 15’s

11th Annual Reebok Big Time Boy’s High School Summer Basketball Tournament
July 22-26, 2005
Las Vegas, Nevada

* Total Games: 755 

* Format: 304 Total Teams
Pool play first two days, single elimination tournaments final three days. All teams will play three games in pool play and at least one in bracket tournament. 64 top-seeded teams (seeded pre-tournament) automatically in Open tournament. Additional 48 four-team pools for balance of pool play. Winners of 48 pools (R through PPP) plus 64 top seeds (Pools A through Q) form 112-team Open Tournament (4, 16-team brackets, 4, 12-team brackets, 8 bracket ‘winners’ to Open Quarterfinals). Four additional tournaments—A, B, C, and High School Divisions--will have 48 teams each. A Division--2nd place teams from Pools R through PPP. B Division—3rd place teams from Pools R through PPP. C Division—4th place teams from Pools R through PPP. High School Division—All teams from last 12 pools (QQQ through BBBB).

* Official Tournament Sites:
(12 sites--2 gyms at 10--22 Total courts)

Foothill High School: (Tournament HQ) -- 800 College Drive-Henderson
Basic High School: 400 Palo Verde Drive-Henderson
Cheyenne High School:3200 West Alexander Road-North Las Vegas
Coronado High School:1001 Coronado Center Drive-Henderson
**Del Sol High School: 3100 East Patrick Lane
Las Vegas High School: 6500 East Sahara Avenue
Liberty High School: 11050 Bermuda Road
**Mannion Middle School: 155 E. Paradise Hills Drive-Henderson
**Miller Middle School: 2400 Cozy Hills Circle-Las Vegas
Mojave High School: 5302 Goldfield Street-North Las Vegas
Palo Verde High School: 333 S. Pavilion Center Drive
Silverado High School: 1650 Silver Hawk Avenue
** New Sites This Year

* Tournament Founder / Executive Director: Sonny Vaccaro

* Co-Directors: Larry McKay and Jim Allen

* Tickets: General Admission-$10 per day--good for all games, all sites

* Television: Event to be filmed in High Definition to air as 90-minute Summer Special on CSTV

* Media Centers
Foothill High School: Primary Center
Basic High School: Secondary Center

* Media Contacts
KeJuan Wilkins: Reebok Public Relations (781) 401-4715
Dominic Clark: Reebok Big Time Media Director (702) 735-7123

* Media Phone Numbers
Foothill Media Center: (702) 799-3500, ext. 14009
Basic Media Center: (702) 799-8000

* Offfical Website: Reebok Big Time tournament at ww.reebokbigtime.com.