About :  Hoops In The Sun, Inc. (HITS) is a 501 (c) (3) community based basketball program dealing primarily in the streetball industry. The Hoops In The Sun basketball program held is at Orchard Beach in Bronx, New York, where according to the New York Daily News, over 700,000 people will visit the beach during the summer weekends. It provides a recreational activity for adults and youth and an entertainment outlet for beach-going spectators of all ages.

Since starting in the year 2000, Hoops In The Sun has already earned its spot as one of the premiere Pro-Am runs on the entire East Coast. With the $5 million in improvements made to Orchard Beach in 1999, Hoops In The Sun has served as a complement to the rebuilding efforts and activity expansion within this New York City summer "hot spot". Going strong into its eight year, Hoops In The Sun will once again bring some of the most competitive New York City basketball to this attractive environment.

Hoops In The Sun was created by Rufino (Joe) Cruz, Sr., but was known to many as Joe "Pops" Cruz, and his two sons Joe Jr., and Randy in the Summer of 2000 as an 8-team Pro-Am Men's League for male adults age 18 years and older including current and former college standouts and professional basketball. In 2001, the program was expanded to include a Women's Pro-Am league for female adults age 18 years and older as well as a Youth Clinic in association with the New York City Parks & Recreation for children ages 7-12. Expanding the program has allowed Hoops In The Sun to increase the overall participation within the community.

In 2004, Hoops In The Sun expanded both the Men's League and Youth League Divisions from an 8-team league to a 10-team league. This allowed the influx of talent from all across the Tri-State Area to participate in the league. To date, teams from Chicago, Philadelphia, Albany, Westchester County, Rockland County,

The Early Years: The original Hoops In The Sun, held in 2000, was a resounding success. This event is sometimes credited as the debut of what people later dubbed, "The East Coast Venice Beach." 3,000 miles away and a three hour difference in time zone, Venice Beach was now duplicated in New York City in the Bronx. "There's no place better to play summer basketball than on a beach, with the sun out there, beautiful women walking along the boardwalk and having a nice time with your friends and family, doesn't get any better", Cruz stated in 2002. The 2000 and 2001 seasons were the seasons that brought the "Hoops In The Sun" name out to the people that were unaware of what was going on in a beach in the North Bronx. Once people caught on, the ball just kept rolling. The league would acquire sponsorships from companies such as Adidas, Mountain Dew, SLAM Magazine, BronxNet, Playstation, Wrigley's Doublemint, Toyota Scion and Coors Light in such as short period of time. With BronxNet on board, Hoops In The Sun became the only tournament to broadcast Youth League championship games and the second tournament to broadcast Men's League championship games (other was EBC at Rucker Park). The BronxNet broadcasts reached to over 220,000 people in the North Bronx. Start N' 5, the house team that Joe "Pops" Cruz built, became the champions in 2000 and in 2001. During the first two years, Hoops In The Sun promoted itself as "It's Time To Shine" and shined bright with its first two MVP's, Obadiah Toppin in 2000 and Will Cadiz in 2001.

The league for the first two years were led by standouts such as Ray Rivera, Obadiah Toppin, Danny Basile, Kevin Bridges, Cheike Fall, Steve Serwatka, Jared Johnson, Will Cadiz and Darren Phillip...  

A New Generation: The city officially took notice and was on the edge of their heels when NBA All-Star Tracy McGrady made his apperance to Hoops In The Sun on Sunday, July 7, 2002. To date, its is the most memorable day in league history. The McGrady apperance put the league on the map and people began their best Columbus impersonations by exploring the league and what it had to offer. In 2002, new talent was coming in who started to take notice of Hoops In The Sun. The league was vastly growing in the eyes of many and was beginning to be mentioned in "The Best Tournaments in New York City" talks amongst fans from all over the city. New teams such as G.C.D. and B.A.R. Management took center stage on the Hoops In The Sun court in the 2002 championship game by providing new talent such as former NBA playes Shawnelle Scott, Amal McCaskill, former New York City "King of the Court" Mike Campbell, Larry Jones and Rasaun Young. The 2002 championship game between G.C.D. and B.A.R. Management is still considered one of the best championship games in league history. In the Bounce Magazine publication in 2002, Hoops In The Sun was ranked #7 on the top 25 summer tournaments in New York City. Not bad for only being in existance 3 years, but the league would still continue to climb up in the rankings...

In 2003, Hoops In The Sun was still on the rise. Prior to the 2003 season, the summer edition of Bounce Magazine had Hoops In The Sun in a tie for 4th place in the top 10 tournaments in New York City. G.C.D. were back once again to defend their championship and this time, they brought on another current NBA player, Smush Parker of the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was Smush's first season in the NBA, as well as Hoops In The Sun. The 2003 season also saw the debut of Kenny Satterfield, who attended the college of Cincinnatii and was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks in 2001. The season also included former North Carolina standout and 1993 NCAA champion, Brian Reese, as well as John Strickland, Quinton Hosley, Aaron Williams and two-time defending Slam Dunk champion Kingsley Edwards. The last game of the season between G.C.D. and Start N' 5 was the longest game in Hoops In The Sun history, ending in a triple overtime, 117-116 victory for Start N' 5, which gave G.C.D. their first loss on the last day of the season. The 2003 Slam Dunk Contest was probably the most memorable part of the season, since it featured NBA's Smush Parker against the 2002 champion. Kingsley Edwards. Both players put on a great show in a tough slam dunk outing, with Kingsley prevailing in the finals to become the only back to back Slam Dunk champion winner. The 2003 season also saw G.C.D. repeat as Hoops In The Sun champions as they defeated Black All-Stars in the championship game. This would be the last season that G.C.D. competed at Hoops In The Sun …

The 2004 season was to many people the most competitive season in league history. Hoops In The Sun went to a 10-team Men's division and expanded the talent from all over the Tri-State Area. The season including new teams such as Hoop Street (from Rockland County), X-Men, Money Train and the number one team in the city at the time, T.N.P. (Take No Prisoners). These teams brought a more edgier side to Hoops In The Sun, combined with the returning teams such as Start N' 5 and Black All-Stars, the league was on pace to be the most competitive by far. The season saw amazing play from Naz Henry, who became the 2004 Hoops In The Sun MVP and first player to average 30 points and 10 rebounds in one season. If that wasn't enough, he even put up a 46 pt, 24 rb game in mid July. T.N.P. was undefeated until early August when they lost to X-Men, who they would later beat in the playoffs. This season was also the debut of Adris DeLeon, an up and coming player in New York City, as well as the re-debut of Corey "Homicide" Williams when he played with Complete Game.

In what was becomming one of the great seasons in league history, on August 16th,, the CEO/Founder of Hoops In The Sun, Joe "Pops" Cruz, passed away at the age of 57, prior to the beginning of the playoffs. Start N' 5, the team he built from scratch, changed the team name in his honor to "POPS 5." Pops 5 was scheduled to play Hoop Street in the semi-finals. In what will go down as the most memorable, emotional playoff game, Pops 5 was victorious over Hoop Street by a last second shot by Darren Phillip. This game also featured a Hoops In The Sun record for most three-point shots made in a game by Hoop Street's Chester Felts, who hit 10 three's and a Hoops In The Sun playoff record for most points scored in a game by a player, Pops 5's John Strickland with 50 points. Pops 5 would eventually meet T.N.P. in the 2004 championship game and what was emotional for the players, was also emotional for the fans who watched the game. T.N.P. defeated Pops 5 86-84 and finished with an 10-1 overall record.

The 2002-2004 seasons were led by standouts such as John Strickland, Smush Parker, Rasaun Young. Larry Jones, Naz Henry, Quinton Hosley, Kinglsley Edwards, Bo Watt, Shawnelle Scott, Darren Phillip, Will Cadiz, Jason McLiese, Shiron Brown, Fabian Pinnock and Mick Miles.

A Brand New Era: Since the passing of Joe "Pops" Cruz, Hoops In The Sun has been able to flourish under the directorship his two sons, of Joe Cruz, Jr. and Randy Cruz. Everyone was looking to see how Hoops In The Sun would be after the passing of its founder. Questions were raised on whether the league would stil go on and if it did, will ti be the same? The 2005 season was filled with many questions and people got their answers. The league did go on as planned. It was a brand new era and a brand new direction for everyone involved in the league. Players from left and right now wantted to play with Pops 5, in memory of the league's founder. Players such as Kareem Reid, former Arkansas Razorback, Smush Parker and Bobby Mahoney were now on the Pops 5 roster going into the 2005 season. This brand new eraalso featured new teams such as Total Package and the Young Ones. The Young Ones team took everyone by storm. Not one player over the age of 25 was on the Young Ones, and they gave every team headaches. Adris DeLeon, the young fast point guard averaged 24 points during the season, as well as his counterpart, Penny Black, who averaged 24 points per game and was the Hoops In The Sun Rookie of the Year recepient. In the July 10th game between Pops 5 and Young Ones, it featured two players scoring 20 plus points and grabbing 20 plus rebounds, first time it ever happened in the same game. Those players were John Strickland of Pops 5, scoring 43 points and grabbing 30 rebounds, the other was Penny Black scoring 32 points and grabbing 25 rebounds. This game also saw Kareem Reid post up a triple double, 23 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. Powerful Inc. defeated defending champions T.N.P. in the opening round of the playoffs in overtime. Pops 5 would defeat the Young Ones once again in the playoffs to advance to the championship. Powerful Inc. defeated Pops 5 in the championship game in what would be the first of two championship matchups with Pops 5, as they would meet again in the championship game in 2006. Will Cadiz and John Strickland were named Co-MVP's of the 2005 season.

2006 was the season that solidified Hoops In The Sun as one of the premiere summer tournaments in New York City. With the newly addition of MSG Network, New York Daily News, New York Post and ESPN, Hoops In The Sun 2006 was seen all over the city, in the papers and even on television. With the tagline "Hotter Than Summer", the league was just in fact that. Games were played in weather no less than 90 degrees. Games were held during the mid summer

Since 2005, Hoops In The Sun has been in many media publications, such as SLAM Magazine, DIME Magazine, Bounce Magazine, MSG Network, ESPN, the New York Daily News and the New York Post.