(La Porte, IN) - The Civic Auditorium in La Porte is being prepared for the national stage.

 

Crews with ESPN are scheduled to arrive Wednesday to televise a three-day basketball invitational featuring some of the most talented college recruits in the nation. Eight college prep school teams, including LaPorte's own La Lumiere School, will compete on Thursday through Saturday. 

 

La Porte Parks Superintendent Mark Schreiber said the floor with the city's "Living the Lake Life" logo at the center court was applied today. Scaffolding was also being placed above the court to allow the TV production crew from ESPN to capture the action from the rafters.

 

“We’ll have La Lumiere in here later today to practice and then we got two or three teams set to practice on Wednesday then we’re ready to roll come Thursday,” Schreiber said.

Civic Auditorium Director Brent Binversie said tickets at $20 for all of the games each day are selling fast. He said the games on Friday and Saturday, especially, have a good chance at selling out. About 1,000 balcony seats are still open after about 25-percent of the seats were made unavailable for the invitational to provide for social distancing.

 

Masks will also be provided to people wanting them, but masks are not mandatory to attend.