On Saturday, May 12, the streets surrounding Tuscaloosa’s Government Plaza will become the scene of the Rick and Bubba 3-on-3 basketball tournament.
Parts of 6th and 7th Street will be blocked off from all traffic for the event as participants compete for $2000 and a year of free Chick-fil-A.
Josh Rhodes, director of events and operations of Connect Events, the organization running the 3-on-3 tournament, said there is a division that matches everyone’s age and skill level.
“It’s a little bit of everything,” Rhodes said. “From sixth grade all the way up through adults; male and female.”
The price to register a team on the day of the tournament is $95, although there are early-bird discounts, Rhodes said. Teams can register online from now until the start of the tournament’s first tip-off at rickandbubba3on3.com.
The winning team in each of the tournament’s 10 divisions receives a year’s worth of free food from sponsor Chick-fil-A. The $2000 is awarded only to the winner of the men’s 24 and up cash division — although any team is allowed to move up to the cash division.
While the streets are being used for basketball, the grassy area Government Plaza will feature a free “Family FunZone.”
“From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., we’ll have games for the kids,” Rhodes said. “We’ll have six to eight big, huge inflatables. We’ll have music out there — your typical carnival fare.”
Although there are activities for everyone, two noticeable absentees at the Rick and Bubba 3-on-3 basketball tournament will be Rick Burgess and Bill “Bubba” Bussey.
“Speedy, Greg and Helmsey from the show will be at the actual event,” Burgess said. “However, Bubba nor I will be there.”
The Rick and Bubba 3-on-3 tournament evolved from Tuscaloosa’s Comcast Downtown Slam, which was created and produced by the Tuscaloosa Tourist and Sports Commission.
The commission’s executive director of sports, Don Staley, said he could have held on to the Comcast Downtown Slam but felt it was better to allow it to grow.
“[Connect Events] has a large marketing arm, and so we thought that the event, especially down there at Government Plaza, would be a great place to hold [it], and we just felt that they would do a good job at promoting it and gathering the necessary volunteers,” Staley said.
Staley also said both the Comcast Downtown Slam, and the Rick and Bubba 3-on-3 tournament are events geared more towards the citizens of Tuscaloosa.
“From a tourism standpoint, we are not necessarily going to reap a whole lot of out of town [guests] who will spend the night,” Staley said. “I just look at it as a good wholesome quality-of-life event here for our community.”
