Some of the best former basketball players in county history will be lacing up their shoes in August 2024 for the second Kings of Kitsap Alumni Basketball Tournament.

The tournament first took place in 2017 with four teams consisting of Bremerton, South Kitsap, Central Kitsap and Olympic High School alumni.

Bremerton won with some legendary local names, including Marvin Williams and current Bremerton head basketball coach Miah Davis. They, along with Phil Houston, president of the alumni association, decided to bring the tournament back next year.

They tried to bring it back for a few years but failed for various reasons.

“The first year in 2017, I had some personal issues so we took a step back,” Houston said. “When we tried to launch it again, the pandemic happened so we were unsure of the future of live events so we took a step back. Now that things have slowed down, we want to bring it back.”

Since the tourney is scheduled to take place in Bremerton next year, the association is looking to promote the event countywide.

“Some of the feedback we got was they enjoyed the tournament but all of Kitsap County should be represented,” Houston said. “We felt like it is the time to represent the whole county.”

Davis, Houston and Williams have begun reaching out to alumni networks in the North Kitsap and Bainbridge Island areas. Their hope is to bring in a team for each school. However, if they cannot get enough players from a region, the association has created Team Kitsap. That squad would include players from Crosspoint, Kingston, Klahowya and more.

In the first few weeks of registration, the association has been successful. “We had about 35 registrations for players” in just the first week, Houston said. “We have about five companies signed up for sponsorships. We wanted to start really early because of the expansion and see the interest in it.”

Proceeds from the first tourney were to get the Marvin Williams Center up and running. Now, the association hopes to help others with the proceeds in the second tournament.

“Our core values are built around unity and bringing people together and having fun,” Houston said. “We give back to kids and teach them how to become men, to succeed in the classroom and as individuals. It’s all about giving to the underprivileged youth and finding more causes to give to.”

Players interested in competing can sign up at kokalumni.org/register.