Slam-N-Jam Tournament Draws Field of 52 Teams

A pool that includes some of the nation’s elite prep basketball players will gather in Long Beach beginning Saturday to take part in the Slam-N-Jam National Invitational tournament.

The tournament, which continues through July 22, will be staged primarily in the east and west gyms at Cal State Long Beach, with games played daily from 9 a.m. until 10 p.m. Tickets to the games, available at the door, range from $2 to $5, and provide admission to all games on the day the ticket is bought.

Founded by Issy Washington in 1984 with only 12 squads, Slam-N-Jam enters its 10th year with a field of 52 teams, up from last year’s 44-team field.

“The important thing, though, is quality, not quantity,” Washington said. “Other tournaments have 60, 70, even 80 teams participating, but about 20 of those teams couldn’t whip Sister Mary. We had a good tournament last year, but this year, the quality of players is phenomenal.”

Among those who will participate in the tournament are 6-foot-5 guard Jelani Gardner from St. John Bosco in Bellflower and 6-6 guard Rick Price.

Price, considered perhaps the top senior player in the state, played for Long Beach St. Anthony’s last season but has yet to decide where he will spend the 1993-94 season. Both players will play for the California Seniors team.

South Bay players include 6-1 Sam Turk and 6-5 Paul Pierce of Inglewood. Six-foot-one Jason Pickett of Banning will join Price and Gardner on the second-seeded California Seniors squad.

The top-seeded team is New York Riverside Church. Team Chicago is seeded third, with All Ohio and Long Island, N.Y., rounding out the top five.

In last year’s tournament, fourth-seeded Cal Seniors beat second-seed New York to win the championship, 71-69.

Proceeds from the tournament are used to fund Washington’s Athletes for Academic Success, an organization that helps Slam-N-Jam players prepare for college entrance tests.