The Harbor Impact Foundation in Benton Harbor is planning a major community-wide basketball tournament for 2026 to help it raise funds for a new athletic complex.

Foundation Director Rodney Alexander tells us the Gus Macker 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament is returning to Benton Harbor for the first time in about 20 years. The event is held at locations all over the country each year, featuring basketball players of all skill levels and ages just having fun.

Alexander says the Harbor Impact Foundation is working with the Four Winds Casino and the city of Benton Harbor to have basketball courts set up in the street June 27 and June 28 for the event.

“It’s going to be basketball all over,” Alexander said. “I mean, it’s going to be basically courts on Riverview Drive. It’s going to be about 20 courts all over. It’s going to have vendors, food, live DJ, music. We actually may be adding like more activities as well, but it’s like a big community event for people all over.”

Alexander says the games will be played on a city street near the Benton Harbor Post Office and Benton Harbor Charter School, and they’ll be open to everyone. The registration forms to sign up will go live in January.

Money raised through the Gus Macker Tournament will go toward the sports facility that Harbor Impact has been planning since around 2023. In April of that year, the American Electric Power Foundation announced a $500,000 grant to Harbor Impact to support the project, which was to include basketball courts, volleyball courts, a soccer field, and a track. However, that project proved too costly and Harbor Impact is now planning something more modest. AEP tells us for that reason, its contribution to the project has been limited to $150,000, but it’s waiting to learn more about the new plan.

You can learn more about the Gus Macker 3 on 3 Basketball Tournament right here.