The Santa Barbara Court of Champions is celebrating its induction class of 2019 with benefit basketball games on Saturday, Dec. 7 at Westmont College’s Murchison Gym.
The “Be A Bonder with First Responders” Basketball Jamboree runs from 2 to 4 p.m.
There will be two games on tap. In one game, a combined Santa Barbara Police and County Sheriff’s squad will play a team of Santa Barbara Firemen and members of the Montecito Bucket Brigade.
The other game will pit local med units and media members against local youth leaders from the YMCA, Special Olympics, Police Athletic League, Girls Inc., and Boys & Girls Club.
Admission is free with a canned food item, new toy or a monetary donation.
There are seven inductees for the Santa Barbara Court of Champions. They are:
Sonny Allen: Former NBA coach and head coach of the Santa Barbara Islanders CBA team, a L.A Lakers minor league affiliate team, 1989-90.
Sampson Brue: NBA supervisor who officiated many games in the Santa Barbara region at the high school, college and pro minor-league level.
Keith Closs: Played for the L.A. Clippers, Harlem Globetrotters and Santa Barbara Breakers.
Linda “Cookie” Dawson: Played at UCSB and coached at Bishop Diego.
Leslie Ford-Grieve: Played at Santa Barbara High, SBCC and UCSB, and is the sister to Court of Champion inductees Holly and Don Ford.
Herb Livesey: Founder of Snow Valley Basketball Camps held at Westmont College for more than 50 years, and scout for the Denver Nuggets.
Joe Vaughan: Played at Westmont College and coached at Buena High, where his girls basketbal teams posted a record of 761-112 and won two CIF State Championships, six CIF-Southern Section titles and 27 Channel League crowns.
The afternoon activities also will include a performance by La Boheme Professional Dance Team and a guest appearance by NBA Hall of Famer and Santa Barbara High alum Jamaal Wilkes.