Mar. 30—It's often dicey to give yourself a nickname.
Ask George "T-Bone" Costanza. Or Star-Lord.
But when former Gonzaga basketball star Matt Santangelo, then Hoopfest's executive director, started dribbling around ideas about a rebrand for the Spokane's iconic 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a suggestion from then-board member Lewis Lee seemed right.
And not only for the tournament. For Spokane.
Hooptown USA.
Those 2019 brainstorm sessions led to the tournament's new emphasis that year — and a new moniker for the community. But would it catch on?
The pandemic paused its growth, sure, just as it did everything else worldwide. But as the world recovered, so did the nickname. It blossomed. The city council bought in during 2021, given its blessing to the idea. The rest of the nation? It's been a process. One that's blooming again this week.
After all, the reason George couldn't wrest away T-Bone from a co-worker because there was no connection. Spokane and basketball? The roots run deep.
Hoopfest is part of it. A 3-on-3 event known worldwide. Heck, before Paige Bueckers led the Connecticut Huskies into Spokane this week, seeking another NCAA Final Four berth, she led a group of high school stars onto the downtown streets and into the 2018 women's elite division's winner's circle.
One has to wonder if she still has her Hoopfest T-shirt in a drawer somewhere.
And then there is that Catholic university just up river from the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
Gonzaga's reputation, built over a quarter century of excellence and NCAA tournament runs, is intwined with the city it has served for more than 100 years.
Spokane's national reputation, and penchant for hosting major events, predates even the Zags' 1999 basketball emergence.
Three years earlier, Buecker's UConn coach, Geno Auriemma, and other college coaching legends like Tennessee's Pat Summitt, made the journey northwest for the AAU's National 18U and 16U AAU Girls Basketball Championships, at the time the top of the summer recruiting pyramid. That event was the culmination of years of effort by then-Spokane Stars director Ron Adams.
Just like the efforts that went into Sunday's Spokane 1 Regional final between UCLA and LSU. Not just by the teams, but from the University of Idaho and others here in Hooptown. It's not the first time the NCAA has visited but, with two women's regionals now held at one site, there is more work to be done. And more attention paid.
By most measures it's a hit.
With fans, sure, as there were 9,299 in attendance for UCLA's 72-65 Sunday win — and even more for the Sweet Sixteen games on Friday and Saturday.
And with the participants, including USC's Talia Von Oelhoffen, who first played in the building as a State B participant with Tri-City's Prep, before moving on to Pasco's Chiawana High. "I'm super grateful to be here, to have all my family come support, and just be in the city that, you know, I didn't grow up in, but grew up close," she said this week. "And was here all the time at the Warehouse, the Hub, whatever. So it feels like home and I'm super excited."
But she's not the only one with connections. Her teammates, Malia Samuels, who played at Seattle's Garfield High, and Boise High grad Avery Howell, mentioned time spent in Spokane either at Hoopfest or travel ball tournaments. All part of what makes Hooptown USA a nickname that fits.
Heck, even first-time visitors, like North Carolina State coach Wes Moore, liked what they saw.
"Spokane's an unbelievable place," Moore said. "Our hotel is awesome, and everyone's been so friendly. So we're enjoying it, ...
