U.S. Cellular Center to host 6-game boys' basketball tournament in 2018

CEDAR RAPIDS — If you've got a little bit of money and want your name or business attached to a major boys' basketball tournament, contact Tyler Cleveland.

The Cedar Rapids man has done all the groundwork to create a yet-to-be-named all-day event at the U.S. Cellular Center that will be held January 20, 2018. Girls' basketball has had Rivalry Saturday for years, and now the boys have an equivalent.

'A quality event in Cedar Rapids is much past due,' Cleveland said. 'Dubuque has one, the Quad Cities have one. It seems like everywhere but Cedar Rapids.'

Dubuque has had the Wendy's/American Trust Classic for 29 years, featuring schools from Iowa and Wisconsin. The Quad Cities have a longstanding tournament in which schools from Iowa cross the Mississippi River to play counterparts from Illinois.

There are other events at arenas in Sioux City and Council Bluffs.

Cleveland is a Nike team sales representative and program director for the Cedar Rapids Mavericks AAU program, so he has some hoops connections. His first order of business was securing 'The Cell,' which was done recently.

Finding schools who want to play has not been difficult. Next year's tournament will feature six contests beginning at 10:15 a.m. and running through that entire Saturday.

A game between Cascade and Osage has been finalized. They have a combined 38-3 record this season, with Osage ranked third in Class 2A by The Gazette and Cascade sixth.

Mount Pleasant and Charles City are expected to square off in a game between 3A schools. Cleveland said he expects another 3A game and three games featuring Class 4A opponents.

'The issue we are having right now is finding enough 4A teams,' he said. 'It seems like all of their schedules are filled.'

Not necessarily on this side of the state. Cleveland has commitments from schools like Cedar Rapids Kennedy, Iowa City West and Linn-Mar.

'We'll definitely go play,' Kennedy Coach Jon McKowen said.

But the Central Iowa Metro League plays an 18-game conference schedule, which leaves only three non-conference games for each school. It could be difficult to attract a CIML school to the Cedar Rapids tourney.

Cleveland said a last resort would be to reach out to out-of-state schools.

'I have had a lot of teams inquire,' Cleveland said. 'With Rivalry Saturday, the bar has been set high. We want this to be the same caliber of tournament. We're trying to make this a high-class, top-of-the-line event. I'm excited for it.'

Cleveland said he hopes to have a full tournament schedule cemented as soon as possible.

'I think this is an extremely important thing to have for our city,' McKowen said. 'It will be a unique experience for the kids. And I think this event is only going to grow.'

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