STARKVILLE — Greg Carter had trouble when he started to recruit teams for the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump in 2011.
Carter found it hard to convince teams to come to Starkville to play in a new tournament. But as the tournament has progressed, more and more teams want to come, which has made it easier for the Starkville High School boys basketball coach to fill a schedule for the two-day tournament at Mississippi State’s Humphrey Coliseum.
Carter feels like he has one of the best fields — both boys and girls — for this year’s installment of the tournament that starts Monday and ends Tuesday. The Starkville boys (10-2) will play Tupelo at 7 p.m. Monday and Raleigh Egypt (Tenn.) at 7 p.m. Tuesday, while the Starkville girls (12-0) will play Grenada at 1 p.m. Monday and Harrison Central at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“Once we got going, it became easier and easier,” Carter said. “People really wanted to come and play in it. I think we have a really good field. We’ve got some good games coming up and some really good teams coming in. We’re excited about this field this year.”
The Starkville boys beat Tupelo 51-50 last Saturday in Tupelo’s tournament. The Starkville girls are coming off a 61-20 victory against Cordova (Tenn.) and a 57-26 victory against Lausanne Collegiate High (Tenn.) — in the Olive Branch tournament.
Monday’s schedule includes Raleigh Egypt boys versus Neshoba Central at 2:30 p.m., Raleigh Egypt girls versus Olive Branch at 4 p.m., and Harrison Central girls versus Southaven at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday will feature Olive Branch girls against Grenada at 1 p.m., Neshoba Central boys against Tupelo at 4 p.m., and Southaven girls against Raleigh Egypt at 5:30 p.m.
The Olive Branch girls team features MSU signee Myah Taylor.
“We have some great girls teams coming in,” Starkville girls coach Kristie Williams said. “There’s a good mix of some good quality teams on the girls side I think will lead to some great competition on both days.
“It’s grown to be a really great, exciting time for teams to come in. It will be a good opportunity for these teams to come in and showcase their talents to the community and to their fans that have traveled to watch them play.”
With tournaments all around the state and the region, the Travis Outlaw Slam Dunk at the Hump offers something many of those tournaments can’t offer: playing on a NCAA Division I floor. The tournament gives many of the players an opportunity they will never get.
“We’re bringing in teams that have players that may never play college basketball and they get a chance to play in one of the best arenas in the state,” said Carter, who played at MSU from 1987-91. “It’s exciting for the players, and they really do enjoy being able to play out there at Mississippi State.”
The MSU women will play host to Northwestern State 7 p.m. Wednesday, while the MSU men will play host to Missouri-Kansas City at 7 p.m. Thursday.
“We were able to work around their schedule and they were gracious enough to give us these two days, and we thank them for their hospitality for allowing us to be out there,” Williams said. “For these young ladies and young men that are coming in from these teams, it’s an exciting thing to hear their name called out in the lineup and just that opportunity of the atmosphere of playing in the coliseum setting.”
Each year Carter has received ideas on how to improve the tournament, and although he will be coach to win two games, he will take notes on how to make next year’s tournament even better.
“We’re already thinking about what we’re going to do next year, just putting ideas down because so many people are asking and inquiring about it,” Carter said.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Ben Wait on Twitter @bcwait
Ben Wait reports on Mississippi State University sports for The Dispatch.
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