By ADAM ZAGORIA
It seemed ambitious to try to hold AAU basketball events this month in Las Vegas, but Gary Charles and other event organizers were proceeding with plans to do so.
Charles was set to host the Las Vegas Big Time event July 23-26 featuring Chet Holmgren, the No. 1 player in the Class of 2021, and his Grassroots Sizzle team, among others. But now the event has been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as have all events in Las Vegas this month.
“The Governor recommended it,” Charles said Saturday. “At the time [we organized the event] no one could have predicted Vegas would get this bad.”
He added: “The safety of the kids and parents is paramount. So if the Governor of [Nevada] feels this is necessary to close down our event we must adhere to it, regardless of what is going on in other parts of the country. We were offered facilities in other parts of the country to run our events, but if the American people don’t start taking this more seriously, wearing masks, etc., the country may have to shut down again.”
Holmgren’s father, David, previously told me for a New York Times story that he thought the events would be canceled before they were set to take place.
“I would consider not sending him, absolutely,” David Holmgren said in a phone interview. “When he asks, I say there’s no point in talking about it now until it gets to be the time because I think it’s all going to be shut down anyhow.”
The Las Vegas Big Time Tournament for July 2020 has been suspended until further notice due to government regulations under Phase 2 in the state of Nevada due to COVID-19. No date has been considered to reschedule at this time.
— Gary Charles (@GeeCharles24) July 2, 2020
The curve in Nevada is on the rise and the state has nearly 21,000 cases with 530 deaths.
The Peach Jam, which was slated to run July 8-12 in North Augusta, S.C., was already canceled, but other events are going on in various states. The NCAA declared July and August a dead period so coaches will have to watch games on live streams.
“There are tournaments being played right now in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Florida, Indianapolis, etc,” Charles said. “They have been playing for the past three weeks in those states. Amazing.”
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