It’s a new day for summer play

Garvey Scott | The Kansas City Star

Two standouts who are expected to play this weekend are SM Northwest’s AJ Spencer (left) and Steve Carver (right), here doubling Wichita Heights star Perry Ellis in the state tourney.

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Last summer at the KAMO Hoops Shootout, Shawnee Mission North boys basketball coach B.J. Hair watched as his team held the ball for the final shot in a one-point game against Rockhurst.

These summer tournaments provide an opportunity for members of high school teams to play together in a competitive setting before formal preseason practices start later in the year. They can also provide an opportunity to establish confidence — especially for a program that was in a rebuilding stage, like SM North’s.

But in that game last summer, Hair couldn’t draw up a play or call a timeout. He could only watch as his team failed to get a final shot off and lost.

The rules of the Kansas State High School Activities Association at the time prohibited high school basketball coaches from coaching their teams collectively in the summer. Parents or former players were used as stand-in coaches in such summer exhibitions.

But that rule has been changed, and Hair is one coach who is looking forward to working with his team this week as the KAMO Hoops Shootout welcomes a field of 60 teams (30 varsity teams) from four states. Games started Friday and continue through Sunday at Blue Valley West, Rockhurst and SM North.

“Having cut my teeth in Missouri for 15 years, coming to Kansas the last two years, it drove me crazy to sit on the sideline (away from the team during summer games),” said Hair, who helps organize the event. “You’d be watching, and you couldn’t coach your kids. … It’s nice to have that opportunity this year.”

Those coaching restrictions did not apply to Missouri high school coaches at the tournament. And now the KSHSAA rules allow an eight-week summer window (this year, it’s May 23 through July 18) for Kansas coaches to work with their teams.

“One of the huge things is that you are right there with your team,” said SM East coach Shawn Hair, B.J.’s older brother and another organizer for the event. “You have the opportunity to see them grow, see them develop. You also have the opportunity to make game-time adjustments, to coach them like real game situations.”

The KAMO Shootout field includes most of the teams in the Sunflower League and East Kansas League, a number of other Kansas teams, several Missouri schools and high-caliber programs from Iowa and Nebraska.

The teams compete in pool play Friday and Saturday. Every team makes a tournament on Sunday, with the top 15 varsity teams competing Sunday at Rockhurst High School. The semifinals for that tournament are at 3 p.m. with the championship game at 4 p.m.

B.J. Hair, for one, will be taking this weekend’s games very seriously with an eye toward next season.

“For us to go have some success somewhere, it means a lot to our kids — to get a little bit of confidence,” he said. “If we can win a few games and get some success, it’s important to us.”

KAMO HOOPS SHOOTOUT At Blue Valley West:

•Pool A

Blue Valley North

Blue Valley West No. 2

Lawrence Free State

Ozark (Springfield, Mo.)

Shawnee Mission South

Mill Valley

•Pool B

Blue Valley West No. 1

Olathe East

St. James

Blue Valley

Piper

Warrensburg

At Rockhurst:

•Pool C

Shawnee Mission East

Rockhurst No. 2

Fort Osage

Olathe North

Johnston (Iowa)

St. Thomas Aquinas

•Pool D

Rockhurst No. 1

Topeka Hayden

Lee’s Summit

Park Hill

Skutt Catholic (Omaha)

Shawnee Mission Northwest

At Shawnee Mission North:

•Pool E

Shawnee Mission North

Lebanon

Park Hill South

Schlagle

Olathe South

Smithville

•Play started Friday and continues today and Sunday.

•Admission is $5 per person per day.

•Full schedule is available online at www.kamohoops.org.

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