3-on-3 tournament to raise money for ALS research

SCHENECTADY, NY (NEWS10) -- Christopher Fagan, also known as "The Big C", was a staple of the Capital District basketball community. He played at Catholic High, then he played four years at Colgate, before playing internationally in France and Holland. He later came back to the Capital Region, raising his family in Niskayuna. During that time, he was a regular at local pick up games, particularly three-on-three tournaments. But it was during a pick-up game where Fagan had a troubling, and ultimately tragic realization.

Fagan realized he couldn't catch passes with his left hand. A few months later, he was diagnosed with ALS. Fagan passed away in 2019. Now, his daughter Kate is honoring his memory, while raising money to fight that terrible disease.

Kate Fagan played high school basketball at Niskayuna, becoming the schools all-time leading scorer before going on to play Division-I ball at Colorado. You also might recognize her name from her esteemed career in journalism, including featured spots on ESPN shows like Around the Horn.

Kate says her dad's last wish was to start a three-on-three tournament in his honor, and that's exactly what they're doing on August 3rd at the Union Fieldhouse, where Kate and her dad used to play. All of the money made will go toward either ALS research or Saint Peter's ALS locally.

Grief is tricky, but Kate is looking forward to honoring her dad, doing what he loved the most. "I can just feel the love that all of his friends and family had for him and his love for basketball and kind of envision what the day could be like," said Fagan. "Watching people play the game that he loved and playing the music he loved and having full conversations about what the game of basketball, or just sports in general, can do for communities and for people and relationships. It was always the thing that connected me and my dad. Sports, basketball in particular, it was our language that we spoke to one another."

There will be two three-on-three tournament age brackets: an 18 and over bracket, and a 40 and over bracket. It's $200 to enter a three person team, with the money going toward ALS research. Its the first year of the tournament, so they're going to cap each division at 16 teams, so sign up quickly if you're interested, and spread the word.

You can sign-up on their website here.