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Orchard Beach is a two-hour bus ride from Rucker Park. It's a 45-minute subway trip plus an hour-long bus transfer from Kingdome, and it's even farther from W. 4th St. But last Sunday, the beach on Long Island Sound became the epicenter of New York City streetball. Hoops in the Sun, a summer tournament, held its annual All-Star game at Orchard Beach. The players included several luminaries of the scene: Kenny Satterfield, Steve (The Saga Continues) Burtt Jr. and Aaron (The Problem) Williams. The prime-time players put a stamp on something Hoops in the Sun fans have known for a while: The Bronx boasts one of the Big Apple's brightest street basketball gems. In its eighth season, the Nike-sponsored H.I.T.S. has become a must stop for anyone serious about summer streetball. "We know it's Orchard Beach, we know it's on the other side of the world, but we know it's a place you have to be," said Randy Cruz, who co-directs the tournament along with his brother Joe. "You never know who's going to come by." Hoops in the Sun counts Tracy McGrady, Smush Parker, Tim Thomas, Satterfield, Andre Barrett and Allan Ray among the roll call of NBA ballers who've stopped by to play. The Cruz brothers scroll through the list with pride, but there's something more important to them than any big-name player who might drop by. It's a 3x3 New York City Parks sign that hangs on the far sideline fence, about eight feet off the ground: "Joe (Pops) Cruz Courts." The green sign is in place as a memorial to Joe and Randy's father, who founded the tournament in 2000 and suffered a fatal liver ailment a week before the men's league final in 2004. "He started this, and he really made something out of nothing," Joe Cruz said. "Me and my brother do this for him." Pops Cruz, a training manager for Jennifer Convertibles, was taking a business trip in Venice Beach, Calif., in the summer of 1999, when he strolled past the basketball courts next to the beach. Cruz saw a large crowd lounging in the sun and watching high-profile ballers. He left the West Coast with a vision: this could be done at Orchard Beach. Cruz grew up in the Milbrook Houses in the Bronx and raised Joe and Randy on the Upper West Side. He brought his family to Orchard Beach for vacations each summer, but the boys weren't convinced it was the right spot for a basketball tournament. Pops was. He'd attended Benjamin Franklin HS with Earl (Goat) Manigault, and he later worked with the streetball legend when he ran a youth basketball tournament in Harlem. He also worked with Ray Diaz, who is the commissioner of the Nike Pro-City tournament at Hunter College. Cruz learned the ins and outs of running a tournament, and believed it would work at Orchard Beach. The tournament tipped off with an eight-team men's league in 2000, and it has grown to 26 teams in three divisions. The Cruzes have raised money and inked corporate sponsorships to add fiberglass backboards, a digital scoreboard and stands to the two regulation-size courts at Orchard Beach. H.I.T.S. attracted solid talent through its first three seasons, but the league enjoyed a boost when adidas and Mountain Dew brought Tracy McGrady to Orchard Beach on a Sunday afternoon in 2003. McGrady showed up in a limo, signed autographs and watched games for a couple hours, but his visit had an impact beyond that summer. "Tracy McGrady wasn't at West 4th, he wasn't at EBC (at Rucker Park); he wasn't at Pro-City, he was at Hoops in the Sun," said Randy Cruz, who is the Knicks' locker room attendant in the H.I.T.S. offseason. "I think that made people realize we had the pull to get an NBA All-Star at our tournament." Some of the most respected streetballers in the city, including John Strickland, Satterfield, Mike Campbell, Smush Parker and Darren Phillip, started showing up after the McGrady appearance - and the crowds followed. They continue to fill the stands; About 800 people turned out to watch Allan Ray and Corey (Homicide) Williams earlier this month. And NBA players still show up to shoot around. Andre Barrett, who's in Orlando playing with the Chicago Bulls' summer league team, said he'll be back to the beach after camp ends in August. Ray, who's playing summer league in Las Vegas and hoping to earn a contract with the Boston Celtics, said stopping in for a run before leaving for Vegas was a must. "It's good to play in front of friends and family, good to see guys you haven't seen in a while," said Ray, who suited up for Back 2 Basics. "It's a good crowd, too." The All-Star game last Sunday drew over 2,000 fans to the beach and provided an overtime thriller (the West beat the East, 133-130), along with a three-point shootout and slam dunk contest. The turnout gave the Cruzes reason to believe that H.I.T.S. is on the rise. Joe said the tournament could add divisions for women and a wider band of ages by the time the league turns a decade old. He also hopes to build a community center in his dad's name. "When I'm out here with my HITS uniform and flag - I do it for one reason only," Joe Cruz said. "To live the legacy of my dad and let him know that everything's alright down here. "Me and my brother do this to fulfill his dream."
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