Curtis Cotton 3 on 3 Memorial Tournament

9/3/2016

The fifth annual  Curtis Cotton 3 on 3 Memorial Tournament was held  Saturday at Rangeview High School.  Curtis Cotton , a 2004 graduate of Rangeview was one the top players in the schools history and went on to play college ball.  Cotton passed away at the age of 23 after being involved in a roll over crash on May 7 , 2010.  Before his passing though Cotton served as a role model to the younger kids said his mother Kimerly, “He was very supportive of the youth, so they looked up to him and he always wanted to be a great role model, which he was. He let them know that basketball wasn’t everything and that education was key – the first thing. ”

The idea for the tournament came from Rangeview’s  Head Coach Shawn Palmer. “Coach Shawn Palmer approached us and asked us if we wanted to do something to memorialize Curtis to keep his name going and keep him in their memory,” said Cotton’s mother Kimerly.  With free admission, artists providing free temporary tattoos and caricature drawings the tournament is turning into a community event.  ” It means a lot to me because he felt as though  he was a little privy, he wanted to give back,” said Mr. Cotton of the communities support. “It’s more of a celebration,” said Mr. Cotton. ” Change starts in the community. I’d like people to get more involved, we meet each other , we fellowship, and praise. Then give back to each other and have fun at it.”

The money raised from the team entrance fees and the concession stand go to support the Curtis Robert Cotton Memorial fund which provides financial support to the sports organizations that Cotton had participated in, primarily club basketball teams. ” We know how hard it is for some of those young mothers and fathers to financially to support that, we want to make sure that no kid is left behind if they can’t afford it,” said Mrs. Cotton.

The message that was stressed by the Cottons was to buckle up. The #BUCKLEUP  emblazoned on t-shirts and on the rubber bracelets handed out at the tournament is to remind people to buckle up. Curtis was not wearing his the night of the accident.

Varsity Division

The tournament featured players from across the metro area representing 10 different high schools.  The team of Keisan Crosby from Valor Christian, Rangeview alum Tarren Story-Way and Rangeview senior Elijah Blake won the varsity division.  Blake stood out the entire day showing off his court vision, passing and shooting from deep.   A couple of other players showed flashes but Blake was the most consistent throughout the day.

[fvplayer src=”https://basketballcolorado.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/GBRM8686.mov” width=”1920″ height=”1080″]JV Division

The JV division was one by the four man team of Cade Palmer, Hosea Hill, Ryan Perry,  and DJ Pigford.