The co-founders of the Hoops In The Sun basketball league at Orchard Beach in the Bronx, New York speak.

QUOTES (as told to Anthony Gilbert)

Jose Cruz Jr. on the Hoops in the Sun Tournament:
Being a director is hard work. When I was playing basketball and my father was running the tournament, I didn’t realize all the things he did and how much he put into it, but now that my brother and I are in control, we want this tournament to stand out as one of the best, and I feel that we have done that.

–
Randy Cruz

Talk about the Hoops in the Sun Tournament:
Hoops in the Sun started in 2000 with myself, my brother Joey and my father Joe ‘Pops’ Cruz, who passed away 3 years ago in 2004. I feel that Hoops in the Sun is one of the top tournaments in New York City. People have their choice of ranking any tournament, top 3, top 5, but I feel that we are in the top elite tournaments in New York City. It’s a very different environment, with a different atmosphere than any tournament. We have the beach, and beautiful ladies, along with the boardwalk, and you have people playing basketball in 90- and 95-degree weather and they play their heart out game in and game out every year. This is a very promising year…we have a lot of things lined up, some things I can’t really name right now because I don’t want to give it away. I felt last year we were officially put on the map with Mike Peterson and his dunk over the golf cart, which was shown all over the city and nationally on television. I think this year we have more with college players, professional players, and I don’t want to sound biased because I’m one of the directors, but I feel it is the top tournament in New York City.

How do you go about giving players nicknames?:
The nickname scenario is not as easy as it sounds. A lot of people feel that they can go up to any park, do a move here and there and they deserve a nickname, but it’s not that easy. Up at the beach you have to do it for 3, 4, 5 years strong. You have to put in that work every game. It’s hot up there and to go out and get 20 points, 30 rebounds, like John ‘Franchise’ Strickland had a few years ago, that right there earns you a nickname. It’s very difficult in choosing it, because it has to go with them all over the city. When I gave Darren Phillip ‘Primal Fear’ in 2005, he was getting 20 points, 30 points, 20 rebounds, and I saw the players that played against him and they were kind of scared and tense, so to me at that point he put fear in the eyes and the heart of the players he was playing against, so I said let me call him ‘Primal Fear’, and it stuck, I told my announcer at the beach to call him that, and that is one of my favorite names.