336 teams entered in Sonny Vaccaro's 10th Annual Big Time tournament

From Hawaii and Alaska in the West, New Hampshire and New York in the East, Florida and Texas in the South, and Canada in the North, a full field of 336 teams have officially been accepted into Sonny Vaccaro's 10th Annual Big Time tournament, event officials announced today.

As a waiting list of hopeful participants stands by, the final field has been filled for the nation's largest and most prestigious boy's prep summer basketball tournament.

The massive summertime hoopfest will be played July 22-26 in Las Vegas on 24 courts at 12 high schools in Southern Nevada.

Teams from 42 U.S. States, Washington, D.C., and Canada, have entered the showcase summer event, which will be headquartered for the first time at Foothill High School in suburban Henderson, Nevada.

With updated information posted daily on the tournament's official website -- www.reebokbigtime.com-tournament officials have now begun the tedious task of pre-seeding the top 56 teams as well as determining pool play assignments and schedules for all 336 teams.

"All of us at Reebok are thrilled with the sustained interest that the Big Time has received," said the popular Vaccaro, the Big Time founder and executive director who is now Reebok's Director of Grassroots Basketball based out of Los Angeles. "The response is a testimony to the status and stature the Big Time has nurtured in the basketball world during the past decade. Our only regret is that we have had to turn some teams away."

The 2004 Reebok Big Time will crown 'Champions of the Summer' in five different divisions: Open, A, B, C, and a new High School category. The High School division will be comprised of either teams with all players from the same high school or teams with players who are going to be freshmen or sophomores from several different high schools.

"The new High School division is very attractive to many teams and we have completely filled this 56-team division," added Vaccaro, who is also the founder and director of both the legendary Roundball Classic all-star game in Chicago and the talent-rich Reebok ABCD Camp held at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J. Vaccaro and his staff have added two additional events this summer: The Reebok Summer Classic East (July 12-13 at Fairleigh Dickinson) and the Reebok Summer Classic West (July 27-30 at Cal State, Fullerton in Southern California).

While Canada's nine teams from six Provinces represent the most ever in the tournament from that country, California's 79 teams leads 10 U.S. States that have entered at least 10 teams in the prestigious event.

As in past years, Texas has the second highest number of teams entered with 43, including a record 13 from the Houston area alone. Colorado is a surprising third with 19 teams entered, followed by Washington with 16, New York (14), Indiana and Ohio (12 each), Oregon and Wisconsin (11 each) and Illinois with a record 10 teams entered this year.

Nevada, the host state for the Reebok Big Time, has seven teams entered, including six from Southern Nevada and one from Sparks, located in the Northern part of the state.

This year's marquee Open tournament will feature 112 teams, including 56 top pre-seeded teams while the A, B, C and High School tournaments will each have 56-team tournaments following three games of pool play during the first two days in the tournament.

The 56 top pre-seeded teams automatically will be in the Open Division and they will be joined by the first place teams from 56 four-team pools. The A Division will have the second place teams from the 56 pools while the B Division will have the third place teams and the C Division will be comprised of the fourth place pool teams. The High School Division will be the 56 teams entered in that division who will be placed in the tournament bracket based on their results in pool play.

The event staff of nearly 300 is being directed again by Larry McKay and Jim Allen, who have co-directed the tournament since it began in 1995.

While Foothill has been a tournament site for several years, the school agreed to become the tournament headquarters when it was determined that water-damage repairs to the Green Valley HS gym would not be made in time for this year's tournament.

"The participants in this year's Reebok Big Time represent a veritable cross section of the U.S. and Canada," said McKay, who orchestrates the bracketing and scheduling for the tourney's 835 games.

"The Reebok Big Time is providing a memorable experience, both culturally and athletically, for over 4,000 very talented youngsters," added McKay. "By the interest we have received, especially during a transition year between title sponsors, it is evident how far and deep Sonny Vaccaro's impact is in the sport's world."

In addition to being the tournament headquarters site, Foothill will also host the championship games in all five divisions on Monday, July 26. Besides Foothill, the other Henderson schools that will host games involving Open teams will be Basic High School and Coronado High School.

Mojave HS is the only site in North Las Vegas this year and the eight schools that will host the Reebok Big Time in Las Vegas are: Chaparral HS, Cimarron-Memorial HS, Las Vegas HS, Liberty HS., Palo Verde HS, Spring Valley HS, Valley HS and Western HS. This will be the first time both Liberty and Spring Valley will be part of the host school lineup. Chaparral HS will also be the fourth site for the first day of Open division tournament play on Saturday, July 24.

Daily General Admission tickets, $10 each, and good for admission to all games at all sites on the date of purchase, will be available at the door.

For more information, contact the tournament office in Las Vegas at 702.373.7007 or visit the official website of The Reebok Big Time at Big Time tournament.