Classics of the Hardwood

Pass the ball around with some of the NBA and WNBA's greatest players!

All-Stars NBA alumni Tom Gugliotta and Dale Ellis, WNBA alumni Taj McWilliams-Franklin and Chasity Melvin will be on the court while DJ Mike Saunders blasts some beats.

Don't miss out on this free event, open to the entire Delta/Greely Community! Head out onto the court with the pros and learn a few skills. 

Download the Classics of the Hardwood Schedule on the link below:

• Classic of the Hardwood

Meet the Talents

• DALE ELLIS 

Dale Ellis remained one of the league leaders in three-point shooting, topping the NBA with a .464 mark for Seattle in 1997-98 at the age of 38. He ranked 5th with a .433 mark in 1998-99. Ellis, who played his college ball at Tennessee, was chosen by the Dallas Mavericks with the ninth overall pick in the 1983 NBA Draft. Ellis put up a .595 field goal percentage in 118 games with the Tennessee Volunteers, and as a senior he averaged 22.6 points and 6.5 rebounds. An off-season trade sent the 6’7” swingman to the Seattle SuperSonics in 1986, and made the most of his opportunity by becoming a runaway choice as the league's Most Improved Player in 1986-87. Ellis played in all 82 games that season and averaged 24.9 points, which led the team. He shot .516 from the floor, posted a .358 three-point field goal percentage, and finished second to Larry Bird in the NBA long-distance shootout during All-Star Weekend. For three seasons, Ellis was Seattle's main man, averaging at least 23.5 points and leading the Sonics to the playoffs in two of those years. The best season of his career came in 1988-89, when he finished third in the league in scoring (27.5 ppg) and second in three-point shooting (.478). In his All-Star appearance that year, Ellis scored 27 points in 26 minutes in the 1989 midseason classic. He won the long distance shootout and earned a spot on the All-NBA Third Team. 

• TOM GUGLIOTTA 

Gugliotta was drafted in 1992 out of North Carolina State University as the 6th overall pick by the NBA’s Washington Bullets. Gugliotta scored a season-high 39 points, for Washington, against the Utah Jazz and recorded his first career triple-double, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists, for Washington against the Indiana Pacers in 1992. He was named to the 1992-1993 NBA All-Rookie First Team after averaging 14.7 points per game and 9.6 rebounds per game for the Washington Bullets. Gugliotta was an All Star in 1997 and also helped Minnesota reach the playoffs. He led the Timberwolves in 1996-1997 in scoring, free-throw percentage, rebounding and steals. He also recorded a club-record of 32 double-doubles in his tenure there and posted career-bests in 1996-1997 in scoring, assists and free-throw percentage. After four seasons in Minnesota, Gugliotta signed a six-year contract with the Phoenix Suns three days after the NBA lockout ended in 1999. He was selected for the 1999 USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team which participated in the 1999 Americas Qualifying Tournament in San Juan, Puerto Rico for the 2000 Olympic Games. Due to injuries contracted in a game against the Utah Jazz, Gugliotta missed the Olympics. Gugliotta recorded a Suns season high in scoring with 33 points vs. San Antonio and he had 17 career 30-point games. He played for Washington, Golden State, Minnesota, Phoenix, Utah, Boston & Atlanta during a 13yr career, averaging over 20 points per game twice during his career. 

• TAJ MCWILLIAMS-FRANKLIN 

McWilliams-Franklin played on two WNBA championship teams, the Detroit Shock (2008) and the Minnesota Lynx (2011). She began her WNBA career in 1999, for seven different teams (Orlando, Connecticut, Los Angeles, Washington, Detroit, New York, and Minnesota) and sports a career-scoring average of 11.6 points per game and 7.0 rebounds per game. While with the Connecticut Sun, she received the WNBA's 2005 Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award. McWilliams-Franklin, who is from Augusta, Ga., attended St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. While at St. Edward's, she was named the 1993 National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Player of the Year. The power forward was named to the 1992 Kodak NAIA All-America Second-Team and she earned Kodak All-America First-Team Honors in 1993. McWilliams-Franklin, under head coach Dave McKey, set school records for career scoring (1,837 points), most points scored for a single season (760), highest scoring average (24.5 ppg) and highest field goal percentage (.640). McWilliams-Franklin began her professional basketball career playing in the former American Basketball League (ABL) in 1996. She was the 40th pick in the 1996 draft by the Richmond Rage and played three seasons with the franchise in Richmond and Philadelphia, where she led the ABL in blocks with 1.5 per game, ranked fifth in field goal percentage (.528), and was named to the 1997 All-ABL Second-Team. She concluded the 1996-97 campaign ranked first in the ABL in blocks (1.5), second in rebounds (8.5), third in field goal percentage (.540), and eighth in steals (2.1). In addition to her career in the United States, McWilliams-Franklin has played professionally in Germany, Luxembourg, Israel, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, South Korea, Russia, Turkey, and Poland. McWilliams-Franklin was head women's coach at Post University in Connecticut in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, she joined the staff of the WNBA Dallas Wings as an Assistant Coach. 

• CHASITY MELVIN 

  Originally from Roseboro, North Carolina Chasity Melvin 6’3” entered the WNBA in 1999 after being a first round draft pick. She played 12 years in the league and played for the Cleveland Rockers, the Washington Mystics, and the Chicago Sky. She recorded WNBA career averages of 9.7 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. Melvin has also played professionally for 14 years in Italy, Israel, Spain, Poland, Russia the ABL, and China. Melvin played for Asia Aluminum Basketball Club in China during the 2008–09 WNBA off-season. She returned to the Mystics for the 2009 season; where had played there previously from 2004–07. Melvin attended and played basketball for North Carolina State University from 1994 to 1998. In 1996-97, she was named a Kodak All-American. She led the Wolfpack to a Final Four appearance in her senior season and set an NCAA semifinal record by scoring 37 points in the Wolfpack's loss to Louisiana Tech on March 27, 1998. 

• DJ BIG MIKE SAUNDERS 

Originally from Brooklyn, NY; DJ Big Mike is an on-air personality, DJ, host and will shut any club/event down! He is one of 101.9 Kiss FM's most popular on-air personalities. Mike is a member of Core DJ and gets the most satisfaction performing in front of military personnel all over the world. He was the featured DJ on the “For The Leathernecks Tour from 2013-2015 opening up for the likes of BoB, Nelly and Weezer. Mike has also opened up for Kayne West & Cardi B. In addition, Big Mike has DJ'd for several Mountain Dew "Hoop it Up" events and other basketball themed shows and has the knack for matching the right music for his audience. 

This basketball-themed tour is brought to you by Armed Forced Entertainment.

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