Hoops in the Sun
In 1999 Joe “Pops” Cruz and his two sons, Joe and Randy Cruz started the Hoops in the Sun Tournament at Orchard Beach in The Bronx. Taking a page out of California’s Venice Beach Basketball league, Pops decided on creating a tournament that would ultimately be one of the best in the city. With a venue unlike any other in NYC, Hoops in the Sun would grow into a place where the best ball players come to test their skills and compete. When Pops passed away in 2004 it was up to his sons, Joe and Randy Cruz to take the helm and continue the dream their father had started. Today, Hoops in the Sun remains one of the most prestigious tournaments in the city and I’m sure Pops would be proud of where his sons have taken the Hoops in the Sun brand.
Joe “Pops” Cruz turned an idea into one of the best tournaments in the country. Here he is with Tracy McGrady in 2002. RIP Pops!! Photo HITS
Hoops in the Sun is still going strong in its 19th season with no end in sight. On any given day you can get treated to an NBA appearance. Guys like Kemba Walker, Kenny Satterfield, Lance Stevenson, Ron Artest, and Chris McCullough are just a small portion some of the guys who have religiously made appearances at HITS. It would be guys like Big Strick, Stixx, Crabby, Dwight Hardy and DP would lay the foundation for turning a regular basketball court into hollowed ground. The tournament is highly respected in the basketball world for showcasing the best talent around. The beach atmosphere is an added treat as the courts are right off the boardwalk. Music, food and Sun makes the venue everything that made HITS what it is today.
Brothers Randy Cruz (L) and Joe Cruz Jr. (R) are the cofounders of the legendary Hoops in the Sun Franchise that has been running for nearly two decades. Photo ATH.
I got a chance to speak with Joe Cruz Jr. and pick his brain a little about the family business, Streetball culture during the golden era and what’s next for Hoops in the Sun. Click on the Soundcloud link below to listen to the interview with Joe Cruz Jr. of Hoops in the Sun:
AllThingsHoops: I need to start this off by asking who your all time favorite Streetball player is and why?
Joe Cruz Jr: That’s a tough question! I don’t want to get chastised for my answer! I’ve always been a fan of the game itself but If I had to say a player, I’d say Kenny Satterfield. Kenny was, we talking “Grown Man Stuff” as they call him in Dyckman… We call him “Serious Sattelite” at Orchard Beach. He’s just one of those rare, raw players that came out from the Bronx (NY) and represented for his borough and the culture of basketball. NYC back in those days, every solid Guard was tough. Kenny Satt was gritt, he brought his A game. He’s a walking bucket. 40 points here 50 points there… it was just light! The way he approached the game, they way he played it… I gotta go with Kenny at this point in time. But I love Steve Burtt, I love Smush Parker, I love all these cats but I gotta say Kenny Satterfield.
Kenny Satterfield aka Serious Sattelite is a HITS Hall of Famer and Joe Cruz Jr’s All Time favorite Baller at HITS. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: We’ve done our homework on The Hoops in the Sun Tournament and know if it’s rich history in the Bronx. Can you tell me a little on how you started and what was the inspiration behind starting HITS?
Joe Cruz Jr: Hoops in the Sun was actually my Dads vision of bringing Pro-am and high quality basketball to one of his favorite boroughs. A lot of people don’t know that my father, brother and I (and of course my mother) were not brought up in the Bronx. We actually lived in Manhattan on the Upper East Side. My dads favorite hangout was Orchard Beach and about 18-19 years ago went on a business trip to Venice Beach, California. He was working with a company called Jennifer Convertibles and was a national sales rep. He had a little weekend getaway where he had to go to Cali and went to Venice Beach and saw it was a beach side venue of high caliber talent and he felt that was the image he wanted to portray in the Bronx. With Orchard Beach being his favorite location or hangout spot he saw a lot of renovations that emulated what Venice Beach had in Cali. With him being a Latino he wanted to impact his community and impact the Bronx. He found the east coast Venice Beach… He became close with Earl “The Goat” Manigault and got close with Ray Diaz, who is the commissioner of Nike Pro City and kinda learned the tricks of the trade… He just became infatuated with the game and with the beach and low and behold we’ve been there 19 years. MY dad passed away in 2004 and my brother and I have been able to carry the torch and continue his legacy and at the same time create our own legacy.
Before Kemba Walker would make waves at UConn and the NBA’s Charlotte Hornets he would play with Bingo’s All Stars at HITS. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: How many divisions and teams play in your tournament?
Joe Cruz Jr: There are 7 Divisions and roughly about 50 teams. Our league operates on the weekends 10am-6pm. Every years we’ve been able to add teams and different things to remain innovative and creative in this tough industry of Street Basketball.
Uncle G Stacks and Randy Cruz pose with Keydren Clark. Clark has had a very successful pro career overseas and has been one of HITS biggest supporters through the years. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: It is very rare that a tournament can withstand the test of time in a way that HITS has? What is the recipe for such a long run?
Joe Cruz Jr: There is a recipe, but I don’t know if I’ve mastered it yet. I want to say that recipe is to be clear in your vision, stay true to your mission, be humble and just be creative. My dad was a mentor and major pillar in basketball. Probably before some peoples time so they don’t know him but now they see me and Randy. Those steps that my dad took to think outside of the box made us ready for that ridicule of people saying “you can’t do this and you can’t do that”. I think just having perseverance, understanding your demographic and what kind of impact do you want to have in your community and what kind of change you want to make in these kids lives. That is the recipe for staying in the game 19 years. Got to be one step ahead of everybody else. Got to have innovation and the cleanest and best product for your consumer. You have to have a location that attracts people to come to and you have to have quality basketball… leave a mark for the next Joe Cruz, Randy Cruz, Kenny Stevens or Mousey of the world…
Adrian Walton aka A Butta is one of the reasons the court at Orchard Beach is Hallowed Ground. He’s crowned with the 2012 Regular Season MVP award. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: Who are some of the people who inspire you to keep going strong with the tournament?
Joe Cruz Jr: Well for me I got to start with my brother Randy Cruz! He’s my biggest critic but the best person to work with. I think that a lot of accolades that I get as the comishoner goes a little too far because Randy is very reserved and he’s in the background doing a lot of things I get credit for. So I wanted to make sure you guys put this in the air that Randy Cruz is a beast! And definitely the reason why we’re successful and the reason we are who we are. I also want to say my staff definitely helps me out, Kendrick and G Stacks, Bobby Cey. You know Cha Ching, DJ Unique, Zoo Keeper and Mr. Talk Spicy… those guys make the tournament what it is! [I’ve learned from a lot of people in this game… guys like Kenny Stevens in Dyckman has been there for me a long time] I’ve learned from Mousey (Tristate), I’ve learned from Lee (Watson), I’ve learned from DP (Gersh), I’ve learned from Kenneth Graham (West 4th)… These guys are all unique in their own way and have great work ethics. They make this competition of basketball very fun and innovative so those are the guys I look up to and respect. I hopefully will have my name or my brothers name next to theirs or in the same conversation…. I also want to send my condolences to Greg Marius and family who was definitely a pioneer in this game…. He was like a Lebron. People want to see what Lebron is going to do. NYC basketball kinda brings that outta you when you have guys like Greg, Kenny, Mousey and DP, Ray Diaz and Lisa Watson… and you want to be able to keep up…
The late John “The Franchise” Strickland helped cement Hoops in the Sun’s legacy. He is dearly missed. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: Hoops in the Sun has been around since before the social media frenzy… can you speak on that transition and how social media has either helped or hurt the game as a whole?
Joe Cruz Jr: When we didn’t have social media it made people appreciate the game more and going out to the parks. Sometimes social media can give it away on what’s going on, the score, and who’s playing as opposed to going to each park and making your tour around the city to support tournaments… Social media is also a plus because it’s a way to tell a story. It’s huge and has helped us out with sponsorships, highlighting players that nobody knows about and putting them on a platform and give them an opportunity to play college basketball and hopefully NBA or overseas. Social Media also helps you leave a legacy through pictures and video… There’s also some negative that comes with it. Players get offended when you don’t advertise them as player of the game or things like that. It can go either way with social media. Mostly it gives people a platform to execute your brand and that’s what we try to stay focused on… My brother Randy has mastered social media because I’m lost with that stuff sometimes… as much as I like to be old school my brother makes my life easier when it comes to doing a lot of things like putting stuff on social media and advertising the way our program needs to be advertised…
Adris DeLeon aka 2 Hard to Guard (L), Joe Cruz Jr. and Ray Rivera (R) 2006 All Star Game. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: I see one of the ingredients to a successful tournament is the ability to have pros play… can you tell me about one of the very first pros to break ground at Hoops in the Sun? What other pros have suited up?
Joe Cruz Jr: I’m going to start old school, before the social media days. Players who helped our program were Ray Rivera, a sharpshooter from Stevenson High School. Let’s talk about Big Strick and Stix, A Butta, Kenny Satterfield, Steve Burtt, DP, Bacachow, Jay High, the whole TNP crew, Jared Johnson from Manhattan College who used to play with us… Current guys like Mike Glover and Dwight Hardy’s of the world. Aaron “The Problem Williams, Crabby… I don’t want to leave anybody out. If theses guys wouldn’t have touched this floor it wouldn’t be hallowed ground. They went to war! I play NBA minutes with 12 minute quarters so that’s a fight within itself. You have coaches like Rod, Bingo and Jose. Shawn Oliver… you had people who were really going at it for any little thing. Now we have morphed into the more modern kids. We had Kemba Walker play, Jokim Noah, Jimmer Ferdette, we had T-Mac (Tracy McGrady), Lance Stevenson, Isaiah Whitehead, Tyshawn Taylor, Ron Artest (Metta World Peace), we had 2 Hard to Guard out there back in his prime. Keydren Clark, Ant Glover… These name are synonymous with NYC Basketball but also propelled the tournament to where it needed to be. When those guys came to your park you know you did something right. It wasn’t about clout chasing but that clout came to you because you earned it and had a platform for these guys to play on. Especially with our tournament conditions, early game, far away, hot as hell and 12 minute quarters. I commend those guys for giving me those years of basketball to help Hoops in the Sun be where it’s at right now.
Lance Stevenson has been a supporter of the Hoops in the Sun family since before he would get to the NBA and make a good living for himself. He made his HITS debut in 2008. Photo HITS
AllThingsHoops: What’s next for Hoops in the Sun?
Joe Cruz Jr: I’m a humble guy, and for people who haven’t met me I can be a little bit in my own world but I just wanted to let everybody know that next year makes 20 years… and we’re going to do some innovative stuff that will kick off our 20th anniversary. I’m not going to give you too much but we’re trying to bring these courts to a whole different level where more pros and more athletes can contribute to that. We’re trying to get Friday night games with lights, trying get some buses out there to the beach and make sure we make it more exclusive for the tournament. We plan to have 20th anniversary special uniforms, we’re going to announce our All-Decade team, we’re going to do some more events as opposed to just games with other entities. I have a big surprise that I might change the game with… Its a fun place for us and like you said earlier “if you’re in the game this long… you can’t take that away from anybody” and I’m just blessed to be in this situation, especially with my brother just carrying this torch. It’s hard to be in the game 20 years! It’s hard to be in any business for 20 years… and for us persevering on those courts at that location in those heat conditions and those things we can’t prevent (Parking, driving tolls, etc.) and just to see guys still come out… so 20 years we gonna make this an experience you will never forget!
Joe and Randy Cruz have taken the torch from their father and made sure it shined bright for the world to see. They look forward to their 20th anniversary and have some tricks up their sleeves, stay tuned. Salute ?. Randy Cruz sporting that stylish HITS custom jacket. Photo HITS
A huge Thank You is in order for Joe and Randy Cruz for all of your hospitality and welcoming me into the fold with open arms. Make sure to stay on top of all the news from Hoops in the Sun by following their social media pages below:
Instagram: @HoopsintheSun
Facebook: @HoopsintheSun
Twitter: @HoopsintheSun
Website: HoopsintheSun.net
***All Photos for this article were courtesy of the Hoops in the Sun Facebook page.