Supersonic Kemp To Visit Bluewood

DAYTON - With the Cardinals and Bulldogs heading for the district tournament and NCAA playoffs just around the corner, why not add a little February Madness?

It will be coming to town in the form of a visit from a basketball giant.

The Reign Man of the Seattle Supersonics, sixtime NBA All Star Shawn Kemp, is expected to come to Ski Bluewood next week to promote a new kind of fast-action basketball game among youths.

The sport is called 3BA, a 3-on-3 full-court game co-founded by Walla Wallabased Brenda Ford, a close friend of Kemp who invited him to Bluewood to explore the possibility of starting youth basketball camps on the mountain.

"I love the idea of hosting basketball camps in the summer time at ski areas," Kemp said in a prepared release about his upcoming visit to the Touchet Valley. "It promotes both sports, and they are the two sports I like best."

It's the spirit of athleticism and the love for wholesome youth activities that brings 3BA and the former basketball superstar to Bluewood, Ford said.

"He wants to come and get this going," she said in a telephone interview, noting that the former star's focus in life these days is on youth, as much as it is for the new Bluewood owners, Mike and Kelly Stephenson.

The idea is in line with the Stephensons' goal to eventually make the resort a yearround recreational facility.

Kemp will be at Ski Bluewood on Saturday, Feb. 26, when three basketball hoops will be set up for skiers to shoot from their skis or snowboards with a chance to win ski gear, seasons passes and other prizes. The former Supersonic, who will be around Bluewood for much of the day, will sign autographs at the lodge from 3 - 4 p.m.

Ford met Kemp three years ago at a 3BA exhibition game and the two became good friends. A long-time fan of Bluewood and smitten with the Stephensons, Ford looked Kemp up at his new Seattle restaurant, Oskar's, and invited him to come up to Bluewood.

He was game immediately, Ford said.

The youth camp Ford and Kemp want to explore for Bluewood was inspired by the Conifers Basketball Camp at Snoqualmie Pass that was started in 1960 by Chuck Randall, Earlie McKie and Ray Thacker as one of the first of its kind in the country.

Shawn On The Mountain

Sat., Feb. 26 Ski Bluewood

Autographs: 3 - 4 p.m.

At The Lodge

Created to intensify basketball training for athletes, it ran for 14 years until the Conifer Lodge burned in 1974.

The 3BA professional basketball league Kemp helps promote has two teams in Washington state - Seattle and Spokane. The league will tip off in the U.S. and China next year.

The Seattle Supersonics drafted Kemp in the first round of the 1898 NBA draft and he quickly became a force on the team.

At the time, he was the youngest player in the NBA. Together with Gary Payton, Detlef Schrempf, Sam Perkins and Nate McMillan, he made the team one of the best in Sonics history.

Kemp's career peaked in 1995- 96 when he led the Sonics to a franchiserecord 64 wins and their first NBA Finals appearance since 1979.

They pushed the heavily favored Chicago Bulls to six games before losing.