When Marva Lucas-Moore, owner of LucasMoore Realty, started the Hoops & Dreams Showcase event in 2016, her sole objective was to provide a well-organized and professional basketball event close to home so she wouldn’t have to drive her kids to Charlotte or Raleigh to play before college recruiters.
Underprivileged classmates often couldn’t afford the expense of travel, lodging and food to attend an away event. Her efforts, combined with a partnership with scouting service Phenom Hoops, met with such success that this will be the 7th Hoops & Dreams Showcase. The event attracts basketball fans and college-level recruits from schools in a variety of divisions. Twenty-four 10-man high-school teams will play 14 games. The two-day event will be held Nov. 29 and 30 at the Crown Complex, 1960 Coliseum Drive. Doors open at 10 a.m. and close at 11 p.m. General admission is $25. The first game tips off at 11:30 a.m. and the last one at 8:30 p.m. Scheduling is the same both days.
The words “hoops” and “dreams” are frequently used together in the names of basketball organizations all over the country, but this event was brought to fruition in Fayetteville and remains focused on its home city. Phenom Hoops owner Rick Lewis refers to the area as a hotbed of basketball talent, along with much of North Carolina. The “dreams” part of the name was inspired by former basketball player and rapper Jermain Cole, or J. Cole, who was born on a military base in Germany but raised in Fayetteville.
The Lucas-Moore family decided to incorporate Cole’s positive attitude into the name of the event. Cole refers to Fayetteville as a city of dreams and the name of his record label is Dreamville. In addition to being the first artist signed to Jay Z’s Roc Nation entertainment company, Cole’s had numerous commercial successes through his own label. One that hits home for Darius Moore, Lucas-Moore’s eldest son, is “Love Yourz.” It’s about appreciating what you have and loving your people.
Lucas-Moore and her husband, Donald, a retired Army first sergeant, seem to live by that principle. They raised three highly successful children and handled multiple deployments while keeping their marriage intact and building a multi-sourced financial foundation. All three children excel at basketball. Darius played for Fayetteville State University, where Hoops & Dreams had been held for a number of years until this year’s scheduling conflict. It was a dream come true for Darius to help put on the event where he himself had played. Sister Kendal was a McDonald’s All-American nominee, a USA Olympic trial invitee and played for North Carolina State University and then for the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. In high school, both kids played for Northwood Temple Academy here in Fayetteville, which is where their younger brother Tyler now plays.
Phenom Hoops is an NCAA-compliant scouting service. The first year of Hoops & Dreams, Lucas-Moore was hosting the event herself. Lewis was hosting something similar in Fayetteville. After reminiscing about how Lucas-Moore used to drive Darius and Kendal over two and a half hours to North Mecklenburg High School in Huntersville for drills and skills sessions with Lewis, the two decided to combine efforts into one well-run and high-quality event. Phenom Hoops, with its deep knowledge of players and teams, takes care of the schedule, creating interesting matchups between teams and players, and providing multi-media evaluations on all the players.
Over 200 college coaches contract with Phenom for their services, and the company has built lasting relationships with schools at all levels, including Division I, II and III; National Collegiate Athletic Association; National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics; and National Junior College Athletic Association.
By the end of his college basketball career, Darius saw he’d outgrown his potential in basketball and looked forward to a business career. At first, he provided photography and videography on a freelance business to outlets like the Bleacher Report and SLAM Magazine. Lewis reached out to him to join Phenom Hoops to put together the multi-media presentations the company does of each prospective player. COVID put some of this work on hold, as some schools cancelled their basketball seasons. Darius was passionate about photography and videography, but the pandemic forced him to reassess. He turned to government contracting work as a means of providing steady employment.
The Moores display what it takes for a military family to not only remain intact but to flourish individually and as a unit. Marva at one time owned two hair salons. She’s down to one now, but only because she parlayed the two businesses into ownership of a building that generates rental income for the family. At one point she also had a jewelry business with her twin sister. Meanwhile, Donald deployed to Saudi Arabia, Bosnia and twice to Iraq.
He made it a priority to check in with the family regularly, and Marva kept the kids on track at school and got them to basketball practice. Her real estate business is the proprietary title sponsor of the Hoops & Dreams Showcase, though other sponsors are invited to participate as well. Through LucasMoore Realty, Marva also provides HOA and property management services. In other words, Marva helped build an income-generating livelihood for the family while her husband served the country.
Darius is looking to continue to grow his contracting job with the Army, and Marva is already helping him and his siblings learn to step into the role of stewarding the family’s financial legacy. Part of the family’s success also shows in how successful, polite and positive the children are both to each other and with others. It’s obvious that a strong foundation in faith was emphasized from an early age. Darius speaks highly of his siblings, his sister’s academic excellence—she was salutatorian of her class—and his brother being one of the youngest pilots in the country at age 17. By the time Darius and Kendal finished their junior year in high school, they had finished their graduation requirements. Their parents gave them the option of attending Pine Forest High School for their senior year. Of course, they’d continue to advance their education, but they’d also be able to socialize more with their friends in the public-school sphere.
Darius knows that one of the unintended ministries of Hoops & Dreams Showcase is that it provides a platform for underprivileged kids the opportunity at a college scholarship. In addition to the education offered, many players from North Carolina have played and continue to play at the professional level. Lewis is matter of fact when he talks to students, and his company makes it a point to not just look at player statistics on paper but to meet them and get a sense of their character. Yes, it takes a lot of work to make it to the college level.
There are camps and clinics, some offered by Phenom Hoops, that can help a player improve their skills. But it’s more than that. It's an opportunity, with players open to assessing themselves honestly and planning to improve, and learning how to conduct themselves on and off the court.
Now that colleges are able to swap players without penalty, if they need a certain type of player, they can skip the high-school-level players altogether. It’s a highly competitive game. If skills are comparable, it just might be demeanor that tips the scales in favor of a young Fayetteville player. Dedication might not be enough; character might be the determining factor of the next NBA star from the city of dreams.
For information on scheduling and tickets to the Hoops & Dreams Showcase, visit http://hoopsanddreamsfay.com/.