Earlier this year Reggie Ware, a former basketball player at Natchez High School, put on a basketball clinic for area youths.

It was during that clinic when Ware, who played at Copiah-Lincoln Community College at Wesson for one year and then at Samford under then-head coach John Brady, and Joseph Eidt III, as Eidt put it, &uot;got to talking.&uot;

&uot;He (Ware) wanted to start a 3-on-3 basketball tournament,&uot; Eidt said.

Especially since the last time a 3-on-3 tournament was held in Natchez was 1991.

After months of talking and planning, the plan will become reality on Saturday.

Beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, a 3-on-3 basketball tournament will take place at the Martin Gymnasium.

&uot;It’s called the Put Up or Shut Up Tournament,&uot; Eidt said.

The tournament is open to eight teams, but one must be 18-years-old or older to participate.

The entry fee is $100 and registration forms are available at Sports Center, Tom & Geri’s Record Shop, McDonough’s Package Store in Vidalia and R & R Car Wash.

Registration forms can be mailed in, Eidt said. Registration itself will take place at 8 a.m. Saturday.

Each game will be 10-minute games. Four-hundred dollars goes to the champion.

&uot;It gives somebody the chance to make some money,&uot; Eidt said.