BELOIT — Since retiring as a professional basketball player, Beloit’s Kyle Weaver has spent a lot of time around the hardcourt in his hometown mentoring young players at both the middle school and high school levels.
On June 1, he’ll have the opportunity to rub elbows at the Barkin Arena with former Purple Knights from his own heyday as well as some older players still hooping it with some regularity.
Weaver is participating in the fourth annual Beloit Alumni Basketball Games at Barkin Arena. The three games, sponsored by the Elite Ladies of Beloit, are a fundraiser for the countywide Juneteenth Celebration June 15 at the Telfer Park Pavilion.
There will be a 2 p.m. women’s game featuring the O.G. Lady Knights against the Lady Knights. At 4 p.m. the “See It & Be It” team will play the Beloit Knights and at 6 p.m. the “Gettin’ To The Paper” team will play “Young & Gettin’ It.”
The rosters in the past have been a “who’s who” of former Knights, with NBA veteran Weaver competing last year. The former Beloit Memorial High School and Washington State standout was a second-round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. Chosen by the Charlotte Bobcats, he was almost immediately traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
While he saw plenty of action in the NBA’s developmental league, the bulk of his pro experience came overseas playing in Italy, Germany, Belgium, Israel, Poland, Greece and Lithuania. He retired about four years ago and was named to the Beloit Historical Society’s Elliott-Perring Sports Hall of Fame.
“There will be some guys I haven’t seen in a while that I’m looking forward to seeing,” Weaver said of the June 1 event. “There will be some guys in their 40s playing. I’m not there yet. I see some of those guys around town once in a while, but a guy like Tamaris Relerford is up in Madison so I don’t get to see him a lot. So that will be fun.
“There really should be a good mix of older and younger guys. I’m really interested in seeing how these younger guys can play.”
“We have close to 40 guys who will come back to play in the event,” one of the organizers, Tim Listenbee, said.
Weaver hopes that the games spark some longer term interest in games for the older but not geriatric set.
“I don’t play as much as I wish I did,” he said. “I would get up and down the court with the freshmen once in a while. It’s kind of tough to find games around here. That’s something I personally am working on. I’d love to see some competitive games for older guys around here. I miss the games you’d see at Summitt Park or Krueger Park. For older guys it’s tough to play outside, but it would be nice to find an inside venue to play consistently. That would be cool.”
The alumni games have been well-attended in the past. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Concessions are available.
The countywide Juneteenth Celebration on June 15 will be held from noon-8 p.m. at the Telfer Park Pavilion, 2101 Cranston Road in Beloit. Juneteenth celebrates the order issued on June 19, 1865 that freed slaves in the United States and was officially declared a federal holiday in 2022 by President Joe Biden.
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