By Marke Scheer
City officials have another honor in the works for Niagara Falls High School graduate and recent NBA draft pick Jonny Flynn.
Mayor Paul Dyster announced this week plans to move forward with an outdoor basketball competition, similar in style to the popular Gus Macker three-on-three tournament held in Buffalo each year. Dyster said the city’s tournament will be named after Flynn, the 20-year-old Falls native who was selected No. 6 overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in last week’s NBA draft.
“We’re not going to call it the Gus Macker tournament, we are going to call it the Jonny Flynn tournament, “ said Dyster, who presented Flynn with a key to the city on Monday.
City officials are hoping to hold the first tournament event later this summer. Dyster said he intends to present the council with a request for program funds next month. He said the city does not yet have a location for the tournament this year, but is considering several potential sites at this time.
He added that the long-term plan is to hold tournament games on three basketball courts that are being built in cooperation with the Niagara Falls School District behind Harry F. Abate School, near the corner of 11th Street and Portage Road.
“We’re looking at instituting a basketball program that we can do here in the City of Niagara Falls,” Dyster said. “That’s something we can probably get going this season. That would give us programming then, hopefully, next season we could move on to a new basketball facility.”
Last weekend’s Gus Macker in Buffalo drew more than 3,800 players and 40,000 spectators, making it the largest Gus Macker event in the country. Organizers in Wilson have had success on smaller scale with the annual Harbor Hoops tournament at Clark’s Park. Started in 2002, the Harbor Hoops tournament will be held Aug. 15 this year.
Flynn’s close friend and teammate, Paul Harris, said he’d like to see a three-on-three basketball tournament in Niagara Falls.
“That would be great for our little city,” Harris said. “You’ve got a lot of kids up here that might want to go play in the Gus Macker, but can’t get to Buffalo. So it would be cool to bring it to them.”
Contact reporter Mark Scheer at 282-2311, ext. 2250. Sports reporter Jonah Bronstein contributed to this report.
