New dates, same number of games for PTL

IOWA CITY — The Prime Time League's 30th year will debut two weeks later than originally scheduled but will feature the same number of games.

PTL summer-league basketball debuts June 30 in North Liberty and ends July 28 with a championship game. The league's later start is what league director Randy Larson called 'a snafu in the application process.' The season lasts eight games.

The PTL includes six teams comprised of Iowa and Northern Iowa men's basketball players along with other participants from a 100-mile radius. Tryouts are held at 11:30 a.m. on June 25 at Iowa City's North Dodge Athletic Club with the draft to follow on June 26.

Regular-season games are held in North Liberty on June 30, July 7, July 14 — all Thursday nights — beginning at 6 p.m. Sunday games on July 10 and July 17 will be played at the Cedar Valley SportsPlex in Waterloo with tipoffs scheduled for 3 p.m. Playoff rounds on July 21 and July 28 will be held in North Liberty, while the July 24 semifinals are held in Waterloo. In total, all five Thursday nights of action are held in North Liberty and three Sunday games are held in Waterloo.

The season should give fans a glimpse of each team's new additions. Both Iowa and Northern Iowa lost several starters after winning NCAA tournament games.

'This year there's 10 or 11 players that nobody really knows what they can do, that nobody's really seen before that could very well start,' Larson said of the Iowa players. 'We usually have four or five incoming guys and you know everybody else. This year, I think every single guy you're going to be looking at to see 'OK, what position is he playing? Is he a starter?' We could have four or five new starters easily.'

North Liberty will host the women's Game Time League on four consecutive Wednesdays, beginning on July 6 and concluding July 27 without a postseason. UNI's women do not participate alongside the Iowa players.

Larson is looking for sponsors, scoreboard operators and possibly coaches to help run the league. For more information call Larson at (319) 631-2100 or email at randymlarson@gmail.com.

l Comments: (319) 339-3169; scott.dochterman@thegazette.com