The Mike Conley Jr. All-Star Classic won’t kick off this year’s Real Deal in the Rock, but that doesn’t mean a set of marquee games won’t be held on Day One.
Six high-profile contests, all of which involve teams from Arkansas, will highlight the return of one of the nation’s largest youth basketball tournaments.
The 16th installment of the event, which was canceled last year because of covid-19, begins Friday and will be held at various sites throughout Little Rock, with Southwest High School on Mabelvale Pike serving as the primary location.
“We’re ready to get everything kicked off,” Real Deal in the Rock founder Bill Ingram said. “To be able to put on this event in June, with so many other things going on, is big. I had my concerns about even being able to have it this late, but here we are.”
That excitement usually begins in earnest with the Conley all-star game, which matches squads from Arkansas and Tennessee.
It had been a staple of the Real Deal since 2014 when Conley, now the Utah Jazz point guard, agreed to collaborate with Ingram and tournament organizers to bring exposure to players from both states. Conley was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies at the time, and the idea was broached because he has strong ties to Arkansas, too. He was born in Fayetteville, and his father Mike Conley Sr. was an All-American long and triple jumper for the Razorbacks.
The games, which matched some of the top players from Arkansas against a collection of talented players from the Memphis area, typically served as the de facto kickoff for the tournament. The two contests previously had been played on the Thursday night prior to the start of the Real Deal until 2019, when it was held on the first day of the actual event. The timing of this year’s tournament forced the schedule to be adjusted, and the border battle is off the schedule.
Ingram said the all-star games would be back next year when the Real Deal returns to its normal April slot.
In its place, a six-pack of showcase games at Southwest will get the ball rolling, starting with the Old School Wings against the Memphis Magic at 4:15 p.m. in the 17-Under division pool play.
The second game will feature the Arkansas Hawks and Woodz Elite at 5:20 p.m. in the 15-Under division, followed by the Woodz Elite against Team Thad in the 16-Under bracket. The next two games will be 17-Under matchups, with All-Arkansas Red playing Next Page Force and the Hawks squaring off with Team Thad. The nightcap will be a 9:40 p.m. showdown in a 14-Under contest between the Hawks and Woodz Elite.
All six games will have several NCAA Division I recruits on the floor, including 2021 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas Preps performers Joseph Pinion (Hawks 17-Under), Derrian Ford (Next Page Force 17-Under), Layne Taylor (Woodz Elite 15-Under) and Annor Boateng (Hawks 15-Under).
“People will get a chance to see the amount of talent we have in Arkansas alone,” Ingram said. “We’ll get back to having the Mike Conley All-Star Classic games next week when we’re back on schedule. But there are a lot of players who are going to show people what they can do, especially these Arkansas kids.”