Utah Flash entry wins Hoop it Up

Font Size:
Default font size
Larger font size

What do you do when you've starred in high school, finished up your career at the Division I college level and then torn your ACL playing in a summer league?

You keep playing, after rehab, of course.

At a church, at a park, in city leagues, or in 3-on-3 basketball tournaments.

Who cares? Robbie Warren will be there.

Warren made a name for himself at Springville High School when he emerged as a dominant player in his senior year in 1997. He was cut as a sophomore, but he was 6-foot-7 and could jump, so he was encouraged by friends to try again. He made the team his junior year and then blossomed as a senior as both a scorer and a shot blocker.

Warren played two years at Utah Valley State when the school was a junior college and then moved on to play at Southern Utah and graduated in 2004.

Just because his collegiate playing days are over and he works at a dental technology company in American Fork, why should that have to stop him?

Warren hooped it up in other venues. He has played in numerous city and summer leagues and was part of the Pro Look Sports team along with former college players like Danny Brotherson and the former Provo High School legend, B.J. Chandler, who organized a team to play college teams in the preseason.

Warren even wanted to attend open tryouts for the Flash last fall, but he tore his ACL when he tried to save a ball from going out of bounds in a summer league game and is just now coming back from his injury.

On Saturday, he helped the Utah Flash's 3-on-3 team win the Hoop It Up tournament at the E Center in Salt Lake City.

Hoop It Up offers competitive 3-on-3 basketball action for players of all skill levels ages eight and up. Divisions range from recreational to Top Gun.

The Flash entry consisted of Warren, who is now 27, along with Kenny Foster, who played briefly at Utah Valley State, Nate Harris and Utah Flash Director of Ticket Sales Travis Quinn.

They teammed up to go undefeated in the highest level -- the Top Gun division.

The Flash team went 4-0 on Friday night and won both games handily on Saturday by scores of 20-12 and 20-11.

"I just think we had a good mix," Quinn said. "No one could stop Robbie down low and we got good shooting from the outside. We also matched up pretty well defensively."

Much like Warren, Quinn has found a way to make basketball a way of life. Quinn played high school basketball in Michigan. He attracted several Division II teams, but decided that if he couldn't play at the Division I level, he wouldn't play at the next level, so Quinn came to BYU and focused on school.

But his basketball days were far from over. He played on city league teams and after getting hired by the Flash to be the director of ticket sales, all this talk about basketball gave him a desire to play again.

He two-timed in the Provo City open league, playing on two different teams, which wasn't a real problem until they played each other. He also played on a team in Orem.

As if all that basketball wasn't enough, he takes it to work with him. After one season under his belt, he's hoping to keep the momentum going the Flash gained during its inaugural season.

"All in all, I was happy with what we did for our first year, but I know we can do better," Quinn said. "There's so much that we did wrong. None of us had ever done (professional basketball) until KP (Kent Partridge) came on. So in that sense, I was happy. I think we had a year we can build on."

Quinn's office is moving from Provo to the old Open Court (now The Factory). No one is sure if the basketball-happy staff will get much work done, but look at it this way, if the Flash ever get in a bind ...

"I'd say most of us are past our prime," said Quinn, who is now 28. "But I've been playing in the Hoop It up since I was a kid and it's always been a lot of fun."

The win qualified the Flash team to compete in the 20th Anniversary Hoop It Up World Championships in Florida. The winning team from the 2008 World Championships Top Gun Division will receive a $20,000 cash prize.

"I had no idea (of the prize)," Warren said. "That would be a plus. You never know what kind of competition there will be. I imagine we'll play some really good teams and some bad teams. It will just be good to get out there and play."

Print Email

/sports
43° F
Sponsored by:

Select Your Town: