Four Hoosiers to Play in Dizzy Runs Pro-Am
During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was often difficult for current NBA guard Kyle Guy and former Harlem Globetrotter Derick Grant to find a gym to play basketball.
It made them recognize the things they took for granted before events were shut down, and it motivated them to give back to the Indianapolis community. When restrictions were lifted, Guy and Grant pondered a way to make this possible.
"What can we do to provide an outlet or resource where people can come and just enjoy life, enjoy the game of basketball?" Grant asked himself.
The solution was a collaborative effort to create the Dizzy Runs Pro-Am, a basketball league which spans from July 12 to Aug. 6. Games will begin at 7 p.m. ET every Tuesday at Mojo Up Sports Complex in Noblesville, Ind., concluding with a championship game on Saturday, Aug. 6.
The event got its name from Grant's history of playing for the Harlem Globetrotters from 2006 to 2014, when he was nicknamed "Dizzy" because of ball-handling skills that made defenders dizzy. Grant and Guy wanted a catchy name for the event, and it stuck.
With Guy's history of winning Indiana Mr. Basketball in 2016 at Lawrence Central, the 2019 National Championship at Virginia and playing three NBA seasons with the Sacramento Kings and Miami Heat, the Dizzy Runs Pro-Am has attracted a number of big names. NBA talent like Gary Harris, Tyrese Haliburton, Lance Stephenson and Justin Holiday are slated to play in the event, according to Guy.
On the college side, Indiana's Xavier Johnson, Miller Kopp, Tamar Bates and Anthony Leal have joined rosters. Former Butler, Indiana and Ohio State center Joey Brunk will play in the event, as well as current and former Butler players Myles Tate, DJ Hughes, Kelan Martin and Myles Wilmoth. Former NBA and Kentucky guard Marquis Teague will participate, as well as Purdue's 2023 commit Myles Colvin from Heritage Christian High School.
"We're doing this for the community," Grant said in an interview with Fox59 News. "We're doing this for Indiana, for those that love the game of basketball to come out and see high-performing athletes from a perspective sometimes you maybe wouldn't get to see if you payed for court-side seats."
The Dizzy Runs Pro-Am will implement the Elam Ending, which has been used in the NBA All-Star game as an alternate end-of-game structure. With the Elam ending, the clock stops with six minutes left in the fourth quarter, and a target score is calculated. For the Dizzy Runs Pro-Am, the target score will be 11 points higher than the leading team's score.
For example, if the score is 65-60 when the clock stops with six minutes remaining, the first team to reach 76 points is the winner. The Elam Ending guarantees a game-winning shot in every contest. It also doesn't allow the winning team to simply run out the clock, and it eliminates the constant fouling and free throw shooting at the end of games.
The Dizzy Runs Pro-Am offers free admission in an effort to provide an enjoyable event for all basketball fans.
"At the end of the day we just want people to feel the joy that we experience when we play the game and we're around the game of basketball," Grant said in an interview with Fox59 News. "What better place than the Hoosier state in Indiana?
Related stories on Indiana basketball:
- BTN'S IU DAY SCHEDULED FOR TUESDAY, JULY 12: The Big Ten Network is dedicating all of Tuesday's programming to classic Indiana University athletics games and documentaries during its annual IU Day. Fans can watch the 1976 men's basketball national championship game, a documentary on George Taliaferro and much more. CLICK HERE
- FRESHMEN SEEING BENEFITS OF OFFSEASON TRAINING: The Indiana basketball freshmen have been on campus for just over a month, and they're already seeing noticeable improvements through Clif Marshall's offseason training program. CLICK HERE
- GUNN WORKING TO BE 3-POINT SHOOTER INDIANA NEEDS: Lawrence North High School product C.J. Gunn joins Mike Woodson and the Indiana basketball program with a reputation partly built on 3-point shooting prowess. It's an area in which Indiana has struggled recently, but Gunn is working to fill that void. CLICK HERE
