June 19 , 2009
By Chris Easterling
Massillon Independent

Morgan Wenger has seen his share of 3-on-3 basketball tournaments. In fact, more than he can – or would like to – count.

But what Wenger has gained from playing in all of those tournaments is an idea of what he believes makes a good 3-on-3 event.

It is from that background that Wenger put together the Dawg Days 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament, which will be held for the fourth straight year Saturday starting at noon at the Village Green Park in Dalton.

“I don’t want to say I know everything,” Wenger said. “What I have done is I’ve taken what I’ve learned from all the tournaments I’ve played in and have incorporated the best of those things into mine. I wanted to keep it professionally run and well-informed.”

It also hasn’t hurt that Wenger has been able to draw some pretty prominent names from the area to play in the event. The Canton Ballers, three-time defending tournament champions, boast the likes of former Massillon Tiger standout Angelo Edwards, for example.

Former Dalton standout Dan Owolabi teamed up with a pair of his former Malone teammates – Jason Mishler and Tyler Renner – to form another team which will compete. Also in the tournament for the first time is former Otterbein College star Jeff Gibbs, who will play for Team Jacko out of Columbus.

“Where I’ve seen the biggest jump is talent since I started this,” Wenger said. “That’s a welcome sight to see for anybody who watches these kinds of tournaments. ... I wanted to make it a tournament the top talent wants to play in.”

To do that, the winners in the Top Dawg division take home $2,000. That number is an increase of $800 from the old winner’s payout of $1,200 when Wenger started the tournament.
“I’m not in this to make a bunch of money,” Wenger said. “I want to have the best tournament we can have. But that prize is a pretty big draw.”

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