Salem's biggest annual sporting event is back where it started.

Oregon Hoopla XXVII, the 3-on-3 street basketball tournament that has filled Salem sidewalks most summers since 1999, returns to Court Street on the north side of the Oregon State Capitol for the first time since 2022.

The main tournament games tip off Saturday, July 25, and run through championship ceremonies on Sunday, July 26.

The tournament spent three years on State Street after a $598 million seismic retrofitting project forced it off the Capitol grounds in 2023. With construction fences coming down, tournament director Jason Unruh and the nonprofit Hoopla Association are bringing the event home.

Unruh described a similar homecoming in 2022, when Hoopla returned to the Capitol after a two-year COVID hiatus. "It was so special to be back after a two-year break," he said at the time. "The joy and excitement on people's faces was so fulfilling."

That 2022 edition was Hoopla XXIII. One year later, the tournament set an all-time participation record with 1,067 teams at its temporary State Street location.

What to expect

Hoopla XXVII features more than 40 divisions spanning 7-and-under boys and girls through Men's Open, Women's Open, Co-ed, Family, and 40-and-over and 50-and-over adult brackets.

Teams registered at $345 each and are guaranteed four games across the weekend.

Events began Thursday, July 23, with a Unified Basketball Clinic for middle and high school student-athletes presented by Dutch Bros. Friday, July 24, brings a free kids clinic at 10 a.m. and the Kona Ice 2-on-2 tourney from 1 to 8:30 p.m.

The marquee weekend schedule:

Saturday, July 25: Opening ceremonies at 7:45 a.m. Tournament games run 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Contest finals include the Toyota 2-Ball at 2:30 p.m., the Home2 Suites Free Throw at 4 p.m., and the Umpqua Bank 3-Point Shootout at 4:45 p.m.

The evening caps with The Gauntlet, a ladder tournament presented by Alaska Airlines, at 6 p.m. on Toyota Championship Court No. 16. Entry is $29 per player.

Sunday, July 26: Games resume at 8 a.m. Championship ceremonies wrap by 4 p.m.

27 years on Salem streets

Hoopla launched in 1999 alongside Sportsfest, a 13-sport Olympic-style event held throughout Salem and Keizer.

What started with 151 teams on Court Street has grown into what organizers call the second-largest 3-on-3 tournament in the country, behind only Hoopfest in Spokane, Washington.

The Gauntlet debuted at Hoopla XXV in 2024. Team Axle Moving, featuring Jordan Lind, Cade Hutchins, Tre Hale-Edmerson, Jay Merriweather, and Alex Rentsch, won the inaugural event out of 26 competitors.

All games take place on Court Street NE at 900 Court St. NE. Team check-in is at the Les Schwab Tires Registration HQ at the Salem Family YMCA. Full schedules and bracket information are posted at oregonhoopla.com.