Mike Pede

One of the things University of Houston coach Kelvin Sampson loved about the inaugural H-Town Basketball Tipoff is seeing the high school coach of the year award named after legendary Yates High School coach Greg Wise. "I think about a guy like Greg Wise," Sampson says. "He's coached for 30 some years and that's the first time they've had a Basketball Tipoff banquet. Think about that. I think I thought about that more than anything else. "One of the greatest talent cities in the country is Houston. And I liked it when a lot of the kids' parents came over and wanted a picture or something. And looking in those kids' eyes and parents' eyes that's a good thing that (organizer) Mike (Pede) did yesterday. "A good, good thing. I like the fact that they named one of the awards after Guy V. Lewis. The Guy V. Lewis Award goes to the Player of the Year in the city of Houston. I like the fact that they named another award after Greg Wise (the Greg Wise Coach of the Year Award) . . . To name one of the awards after Greg Wise, that's a good thing. "Those two men did so much for basketball in this city. And I'm so glad that they're getting recognized. And it's an honor to have your name on an award that's going to live long after your days are gone. "I loved seeing the excitement. I loved seeing Pat Beverley with his daughter. I loved seeing Rudy Tomjanovich. (Van) Chancellor. I loved seeing all the Cougar fans that were there. It was a good day. It was a good day. "And I'm excited about the future of that event. I think Mike's onto something good there. I think a lot of good can come from that." @PaperCityMag first broke the news of the H-Town Basketball Tipoff being planned back in August.

The H-Town Basketball Tipoff, which @PaperCityMag first broke the news of, is already up to tables sold for nearly 550 people for its inaugural event next Wednesday afternoon. Houston coach Kelvin Sampson, Fran Fraschilla and every Houston area college coach (both men's and women's) are slated to be there. Along with the Top 15 boys and girls high school basketball players in the Houston area. PaperCity has learned that a new Coach of the Year Award and a new Girls High School Player of the Year Award will be revealed at this first of its kind H-Town basketball extravaganza too. "I grew up in Big 5 country where you have Temple, St. Joe's, Villanova, Penn and Drexel all playing each other," H-Town Basketball Tipoff orchestrator Mike Pede tells PaperCity. "Playing together. . . Basketball just doesn't get enough love. No one really thinks about basketball until January 1st. "So I'm trying to get them to think about basketball in October."

Fran Fraschilla believes that the new H-Town Basketball Tipoff will help further establish Houston as one of college basketball's true hubs. "While the city of Houston has got incredible basketball history through the years, whether at the NBA level or the college level, we know it's still a football state in many ways. And a football city. But with what Houston and some of the other local schools have done to bring attention to college basketball, I think it's an outstanding way to kick off the season. "It's also a way to promote the sport in the city. Like I said, the city has got great college basketball tradition. And an event like this builds on that." @PaperCityMag first broke the news of the inaugural H-Town Basketball Tipoff that will bring Kelvin Sampson and every other college basketball coach in the area together, along with the Top 15 high school boys and Top 15 girls basketball players in the area, in a grand hoops season opening celebration.