Harlem Wizards coming to Pilgrim

Posted 10/7/14

For 50 years, the Harlem Wizards have traveled the world, raising money one trick shot and alley-oop at a time. Later this month, the team will make its first-ever stop in Warwick.

Pilgrim High …

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Harlem Wizards coming to Pilgrim

Posted

For 50 years, the Harlem Wizards have traveled the world, raising money one trick shot and alley-oop at a time. Later this month, the team will make its first-ever stop in Warwick.

Pilgrim High School will host a Wizards game on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 5 p.m., with proceeds benefiting the school’s After Prom Extravaganza program. The public is invited. Tickets are $10 in advance and can be purchased at Dave’s Market at Hoxsie Four Corners. Tickets are $12 at the door. Doors open at 4 p.m.

The After Prom Extravaganza, which began in 2008, is an all-night lock-in at the school that provides safe, drug and alcohol-free activities for Pilgrim students after their senior prom. The event runs at no cost to students, relying on fundraising and donations.

Pilgrim teacher Rich Marrese, one of the coordinators of APE, saw the Harlem Wizards play in Cumberland and thought they’d be a perfect fundraising fit. The Wizards, like the Harlem Globetrotters, deliver high-flying, crowd-friendly basketball, but they do it in the smallest of venues, with an emphasis on fundraising. The Wizards play more than 300 games every year, and have helped communities, schools and organizations raise millions of dollars.

“I saw them in Cumberland earlier this year and it was awesome,” Marrese said. “It’s trick shots, dunks. They do a lot of stuff to get the kids involved and get the crowd involved. It’s great. It’s a lot of fun.”

In Warwick, the Wizards will take on a team of Warwick teachers, who will call themselves the Warwick Patriots.

“We don’t have a chance,” Marrese said. “These guys are all former college players, they’re at the top of their game. The whole point for the teachers team is to have fun and put on a good show.”

It’s good basketball for a good cause.

“It’s awesome to have a show like this in your own backyard,” Marrese said. “We want all of Warwick to come and see this event.”

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