Closed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the 2-year-old Kentucky Basketball Commission, operating at one of Lexington’s most visible indoor youth sports sites in the past two decades, has announced that it left its premises as the owners of the building were preparing for a potential sale.
“We started September 2018 as part of a certain deal with the building owners,” said KBC Hoops co-founder and CEO Tom Bower. “But their situation changed and when their situation changed, our situation changed, and it was difficult to follow because we are a company that is less than 2 years old. Funding requires finding partners and it takes time. time. “
Bower, who had been senior sporting director of KBC Hoops’ predecessor, the Kentucky Basketball Academy, from 2011 to 2016 and returned in 2018 to lead the new management group, said Saturday that his partners had worked on a deal to buy the site when the pandemic hit and the economy essentially stopped.
While KBC negotiations were stalled and funding was on hold, another stakeholder offered to convert the building to a warehouse, said Bower. Friday afternoon, Bower had the last word to leave the building with the other deal on the table.
“The owners of the building have been great in trying to make it work,” said Bower.
Bower and his partners remain optimistic about their plans for the next KBC Hoops and have received a wave of support since he announced on social media on Friday that KBC should move.
“I don’t want people to think that this is a funeral or we have shut down because we are running out of money or are bad in business or something,” said Bower. “It’s just circumstance after circumstance and there is no grudge against anyone. We are even more excited about the future and building a new place.”
KBC organized a small impromptu open day on Saturday before proceeding with the decommitment.
“It was sad when I learned it was going to close, because I remember coming here when I was in the seventh or eighth grade,” said Chris Lofton, a basketball winner from Mason County who is become a star in Tennessee. and as a pro abroad. Lofton is part of the KBC partnership group and has worked here during the offseason for years. “It’s like my second home. It is difficult and sad, but God always has a better plan for us and hopefully Tom and Julius (King) can do this (new) building and start again and start from scratch. “
Scott Chalk, Paul Laurence Dunbar’s state championship winning coach, was among those to stop.
“I was a coach at Frankfort High before this (installation) was carried out and you had no central place in summer where you had the opportunity to have everyone together. I remember when it opened, it was so special, ”said Chalk. “The excitement of that and the possibility of having events where you had all the teams, all the fans, all the people in one place – there was nothing like it. … And on top of that, how they have been ready over the years to help local teams train and things like that. … It is special. And I hope we can have something to replace it before too long because it’s something the community needs. “
“This is the place where I learned to play basketball since the age of 8,” said Taylor Barnette, former student of Lexington Christian Academy and Belmont University and graduate assistant within University of Louisville staff. “I always came back here every summer when I was in college. I worked here, played pickup here. I won state championships there … lifelong friendships. This place means the world to me. It’s really sad that it ends in this building, but the name, the brand will obviously continue for generations. “
Bower and co-founder and COO Julius King have ambition plans for a new building and have the support of partners that include Lofton and his Mason County legend and Kentucky star Darius Miller in addition to Marcellus Barksdale and Louis Hairston .
“We, along with our partners, staff and family at KBC are proud of what we have built over the past two years,” said King in a statement. King regretted that he could not be present on Saturday in Lexington, choosing to support the Black Lives Matter movement at his home in Cincinnati this weekend during this troubling period. “We have always been proud of the fact that an African American man and a white man can come together, work as a team, become a family and have a high level of success. KBC has brought an incredible platform to the state of Kentucky and has become one of the hottest brands in the country for promoting basketball events. It is not a goodbye but a message soon. “
Other tenants
The Lexington United Volleyball club movement and DiNardo Sports, a personal strength and conditioning trainer for young athletes, all of whom have sublet from KBC, are also displaced by this decision.
“It’s kind of a funny feeling. We walked in and removed all of our stuff from KBC. It’s been there for 10 years,” said Chris Beerman, whose LUV has lived in it since its founding. a strange feeling to know that it will only be a storage facility. “
As youth sports begin to reopen, Beerman has organized sold-out camps and clinics at other sites. He has yet to find a new home for the select club, but he has time before the team practice begins in late fall.
“I am looking at some places that are actually very good opportunities but I have to close the deal,” he said. “It’s just about finding the right place.”
KBC has also hosted volleyball tournaments, including the huge Bluegrass State Games high school preseason event in August.
Owners point of view
The owners of the building, brothers Steve and Terry Hatton, have had enormous success with the Malibu Jack’s indoor theme park. This business was also closed due to the pandemic. The Hattons built the basketball facility in 2001 and operated it themselves for almost a decade before renting it out.
“We have done everything possible to try to keep it as it is because we love it and that is why we built it,” said Steve Hatton. “We did everything we could and Tom really did everything he could. He’s done his best and he’s great at what he does, but the reality is COVID-19 – no one can overcome this from a youth sports facility that was already in trouble. There is no way to say that we are not going to make money for six months, eight months, a year. Who can survive this? “
This weekend’s move follows a three-year legal battle that the Hattons had with the former building management company, KBA Sports, which managed the site as the Kentucky Basketball Academy from 2009 to 2018, but struggled to pay the rent or reach a buyout agreement during its final. years. A court ordered KBA to step out in June 2018 and Bower and King took over as part of a new deal with the Hattons as the Kentucky Basketball Commission three months later.
Youth sports, particularly indoor sports, will be subject to a number of restrictions when they are allowed to resume in Kentucky on June 15. Basketball can then organize small skills sessions, but it is one of the sports for which no date has been set. for when they can resume play.
Privileged place
The KBC building has seen many major summer basketball events over the years that have attracted the best college players and recruiters to Lexington. A 9-year-old LeBron James Jr. played in a 2014 AAU event there with his famous father.
Last year, KBC helped organize the basketball tournament, a $ 2 million win-win summer event in Lexington, featuring current and former NBA players. Lexington was a first round site and KBC sponsored its own team at the event.
Bower said his group believes KBC will be better positioned with better installation after the move.
“My business partners and investors alike are relieved that we are not buying this building and that we are going elsewhere,” said Bower. “Everything will be alright.”
Bower noted that the space had a number of limitations that hurt him during major events, including capacity and parking – problems he will seek to resolve with a new installation. Bower said he saw a lot of interest from city leaders who recognized KBC as a community investment.
“Their response and support for our stay here has really been felt and strengthens our confidence that we will have a facility as soon as possible,” said Bower. “We are aiming for the fall of 2021.”
In the meantime, KBC plans to continue hosting events in Lexington, Louisville and northern Kentucky and even national events outside the state, said Bower. “We will keep running until the new place is built,” said Bower.
KBC Hoops becomes the second indoor youth sports site off Reynolds Road to announce a move last month. Richie Walsh, owner of Kentucky Indoor Soccer and Sports, also announced plans to leave the building he has occupied since 2002.
