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By Colin Mixson
Brooklyn Daily
Dozens of would-be professional basketball players from across the city showed up for the Brooklyn Blackout’s second round of tryouts at the Aviator Sports and Events Center on Saturday, and the owners of the up-and-coming sports club say that, just because the team is heading into its freshman year, doesn’t mean it won’t be gunning for a title.
“I’m confident we’ve been building a championship contender from day one,” said co-owner Neal Booker.
Brooklyn’s newest basketball squad, which is expected to play its first game with the American Basketball Association against the Staten Island Vipers at Aviator on Sept. 21, won’t be ready to announce its roster until later this month, when Booker and partner Onez Onnasis will name their picks and show off the team’s colors during an online live streaming event.
New York City’s legendary stock of former college ballers and semi-pros has left Onez and Booker with no shortage of talent to choose from, and Blackout owners will be narrowing down their options along with Coach Mark Cook through a series of one versus one tryouts in the coming weeks leading up to the announcement.
“I wanted to see how they fared against some competition they might not be used to before we made a decision,” said Booker. “We’re trying to be thorough.”
This was the Blackout’s second round of tryouts, but it was the team’s first exhibition — of sorts — and the owners sold tickets to the auditions for the price of a few non-perishable food items, which they’ve donated to the Food Bank of New York.
“The community really came out and contributed to our donations,” said Booker. “We had a lot of canned goods and cereals going to the food bank.”
Reach reporter Colin Mixson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.