An American Story: The journey of a neighborhood game

Written for The Villager

   In 1974, a high school kid, bored of playing basketball just for fun decided to play for money, and soon more and more kids wanted to play, more and more towns and soon the nation was swept away by 3-on-3 basketball.

   “Before this no one had ever seen a half court basketball tournament,” said founder Scott McNeal. The first of its kind, The Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournament opened the floodgates to a phenomenon led by a kid from Lowell, MI. 

   As a teen, McNeal played basketball for his school, but always preferred to play in his mother’s driveway where he and his friends could call their own shots and their own fouls – where kids could play games without a coaches or officials. After a few years the tournament started to grow and the kids stopped playing for money, but for trophies. Kids would pay a dollar to play with hopes of winning and taking home a trophy. Once it hit this stage, the tournament needed a name.  And that’s where “Gus Macker” entered the picture. As a kid, one of McNeal’s friends nicknamed him Gus Macker and it just kind of stuck, McNeal said. So when they needed a name, he and his mother decided Gus Macker was it.

   In 1984, the real turning point occurred for the Gus Macker 3-on-3 when a writer for Sports Illustrated caught wind of the event and wrote an 11-12 page spread on the Gus Macker tournament. However, the feature story did not run until the following year – the week before the new tournament was to begin. “I was instantly getting national acclaim,” McNeal said. “The day of the tournament I went to go outside to start what we called our opening ceremony and there everybody is on my lawn – I could barely get out!” McNeal recalls that for the first year since the beginning of the tournament people from Texas were coming up with their kids just to see the 3-on-3 ‘pickup’ game.

   Then in 1987, McNeal had to make a choice – run with Gus Macker and make it national sensation or stay a social studies teacher? Well, I think you know what his choice was. “I thought, ‘I can always go back to teaching after,’” he said.

   After that the Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournament became what it is today. Now in each city it travels to there are teams of four (three players and one substitute) that are then divided into divisions based on their statistical data (height, experience, age, sex, etc.) and then the teams begin their games.

   The entrance fee for the games are decided by the cities who host them. This year’s registration was between $116 and $140 per team. That covers the trophies, t-shirts, portable baskets and all the operational things needed for the games. The rest of the money goes to a charity picked by city hosting the tournament. “I’m very honored (to be the founder) and I feel very happy with my life that I can put on an event that helps so many people (and) that also brings communities together,” McNeal said.

   McNeal hopes that in three years when the Gus Macker 3-on-3 tournament has it’s 40^th birthday they will have 75 to 100 tournaments in one year – beating the record of 70 set in the mid-90’s.

   “As long as it’s doing something good and positive I’ll keep doing it,” he said. More information on the Gus Macker tournament can be found at www.macker.com.