| Type | Monthly Specialty |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner | Franchise Publications LLC |
| Editor | Dan Vance |
| Founded | 2006 |
| Ceased publication | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Fort Wayne, Indiana USA |
| Official website | [1] |
Basketball FortWayne was a monthly publication, with a print run of 5,000, that existed from 2006-2008. The publication was specific to covering basketball on the high school, college and professional levels in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The publication was the first under the banner of Franchise Publications, which went on to do other work in the city and also later in Virginia.
The debut issue of Basketball FortWayne hit stands in the city on October 27, 2006 with area basketball star Eshaunte Jones on the cover. North Side High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana) all-time leading scorer Jones and Canterbury School (Fort Wayne, Indiana) all-time great Megan King graced the back cover as the 2006-2007 Basketball FortWayne Preseason Players of the Year. The inside featured top 25 lists for area boys and girls each as voted on by the staff of the publication and area coaches. Jones was followed on the list by South Side High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana) players Juston Hairston and Fred Ford, Concordia Lutheran High School (Fort Wayne, Indiana) forward Kyle Pressley and Bishop Dwenger High School's Kevin Fogler. Following King were Bishop Luers High School players Markee Martin, Amanda Pedro, South Side's Sha'la Jackson and Concordia's Allisa Goeglein.
Due to economic situations, the publication continued to exist on the web through its run into 2008. The website, a major draw for high school students, feature fresh game content, area statistics and feature stories from the initial launch in October 2006 through March 2008 including highlight's of Jones' exploits as an Indiana All-Star and Huntington North's Amber Clark making a controversial decision to skip her senior year in 2007–2008 weeks after committing to play Division 1 basketball due to disputes with her coach.
Jones, alongside Luers freshman Deshaun Thomas were named the 2007 Basketball FortWayne Co-Players of the year for the boys, King was the Player of the Year for the girls. Thomas was also the 2008 Player of the Year alongside Goeglein. The 2007-2008 year also featured stories on top area players Martin and Elmhurst High School's Tyler Thompson, who both had to sit out huge portions of their senior seasons due to ACL injuries.
Contents |
Outside of traditional game stories, features and columns, Basketball FortWayne was known for interactive and personalized columns as well. This was launched with the debut issue with an instructional shooting column from former R. Nelson Snider High School player Ryan Hetrick and a strength instruction column from longtime coach Dave McKinnis.
The first issue was popularly received in the city, available at all 14 high schools in the city limits, Indiana University – Purdue University Fort Wayne, Indiana Institute of Technology, University of Saint Francis (Indiana), Borders, Barnes & Noble and three Blockbuster Video locations in the city. Part of the appeal of the publication came as it was created in the same form as now-defunct area sports weekly, Overtime, which was owned by BBFW contributor Aaron Suozzi and featured work by BBFW editors Eugene Harding and Dan Vance.
Outside of the top 25 lists, the issue was headlined by feature stories on Eshaunte Jones and Megan King. Previews of Saint Francis, IPFW and the Summit Athletic Conference were also available. A college notation feature updated readers on former area high school and college players, featuring former IPFW standout David Simon. The publication was also just the second anywhere in the nation to feature then-freshman Deshaun Thomas, who went on to be one of the top-ranked high school players in the class of 2010 before going to play at Ohio State University. It was the first interview with Thomas since he began high school after choosing to play at Bishop Luers over North Side High School, where his middle school (Northwood) was a feeder school to.