The 2021 Spalding Hoophall Classic has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, per event organizers.
Greg Procino, Vice President of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, told MassLive the factors working against the event -- which would have taken place without fans -- simply piled up too high to overcome.
“The unknown of January, in terms of what the health situation will look like locally, the variables in place just were not lining up in our favor,” Procino said. “We tried to be as patient as possible, tried to wait out to see if things were going to improve, but the reality is at this point, given the rising caseloads, the local restrictions with the state and the city, the unknown of the local high-school basketball season, the volume of traveling from around the country that this event takes, at this point it feels like the right thing to do to just take a pause.
“If our protocol document was perfect, there still would be reasons not to do it, and I think we just got to a point where there were too many barriers to make it work, because even in our modified plan, this wouldn’t have been what people would normally expect from Hoophall Classic. It would have been a fan-less television studio.”
Organizers were concerned about safety of the athletes, many of whom would have had to fly to Springfield from their home markets.
“These are still high school students, and they are still required to leave their homes and travel to Springfield to participate, and without a true testing protocol and a true sign-off from local officials, infusing more risk into the pandemic at this point just doesn’t feel like the right choice,” Procino said.
Now the Hall of Fame will plan for a normally scheduled 2022 event.
“I think we’re all hopeful things are normal this time next year,” Procino said. “We’re going to create a new schedule, we’re going to go back to our original dates, we’re going to carry forward like we’re going to have an event.
“I don’t think our planning cycle or our desire changes in terms of hosting an event. We’re going to move forward like we’re going to have a more normal year, and hopefully the vaccine and the virus is more under control by that point.”
This year’s 20th anniversary event would have featured Emoni Bates, one of the best high-school prospects in recent years, as well as a full slate of talented young stars. Per Procino, next year’s event will instead be marketed as the 20th anniversary.
Procino noted that Anthony Edwards, who went No. 1 in the 2020 NBA Draft to Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, was the 10th consecutive No. 1 pick who played at the Hoophall Classic in Springfield.
“I think we’ve set ourselves a high expectation to deliver the best teams and the best players that are interested in coming, and I don’t see that changing in terms of how we carry forward,” Procino said.
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