Jared Sullinger.

REAL DEAL IN THE ROCK
4 p.m., Jack Stephens Center, UALR, and gyms all over Little Rock and North Little Rock. $8-$15.

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After four years as the Real Deal on the Hill, Arkansas’s premier youth basketball tournament relocates from Fayetteville to Little Rock this weekend. It’s bigger than ever. Some 450 teams, girls’ and boys’ from 10 and under to 17 and under from around the country, compete. But most the fanfare will revolve around the 17 and under boys. That’s where you’re bound to catch a glimpse of tomorrow’s stars. In years past, NBA stars like Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley and Greg Oden competed. This year, pre-tournament, beginning at 4 p.m. at the Jack Stephens Center, there’ll be a drumline competition and a tip-off ceremony featuring Gov. Mike Beebe and Clark Kellogg [according to the Dem-Gaz, he’ll now speak during half time], one of the most astute college basketball commentators around. Outside, beginning at 4:30 p.m., there’ll be slides and basketball games and all sorts of carnival stuff. At 5:30 p.m., Fox Sportsnet broadcasts the tip-off game. It should be a dandy — a showdown between the All Ohio Red (led by Rivals’ No 3.-rated prospect for 2010, 6-foot-8 shooting guard power forward Jared Sullinger, the younger brother of onetime Razorback J.J. Sullinger) and the MBA Elite, a Mississippi AAU team led by Rivals’ top-ranked prospect for 2011, 6-foot-8 shooting guard LaQuinton Ross. The tournament runs through Sunday. Get the complete schedule at realdealintherock.com.

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