After a one-year absence, the Hillcrest Classic, San Diego Hoops basketball league’s annual invitational tournament, returns this year with a new venue and a lineup of teams from across the country. Scheduling conflicts at the Balboa Park Municipal Gym last year forced the cancellation of the tournament, which had become a regular stop on the gay basketball tournament circuit and one of the largest in the nation.

This year’s tournament is scheduled for Jan. 15 and 16, over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, and will feature teams from San Diego, New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, L.A., Sacramento, San Francisco and Long Beach. Games will be played on the Mesa College campus in the main gymnasium.

“The expectations I have for this year’s tournament are that we get about 10 to 12 teams from all over the country that include a couple from San Diego,” said San Diego Hoops basketball league commissioner David Valenzuela. “My other expectation is to see the San Diego/Hillcrest community get involved by volunteering, sponsoring and coming out to watch the games at Mesa College.”

Sports fans got an added treat at the last Hillcrest Classic, held in 2002, when former San Diego Padre Billy Bean and out NFL player Esera Tuaolo participated in the tournament.

“Well, as for having celebrities this year,” Valenzuela said about the prospect of having gay sports celebrities return, “who knows? But you never know; we’ve been surprised in past.”

As in past years, the Hillcrest Classic will be donating a portion of proceeds from the tournament weekend to a local charity. This year’s recipient will be Ordinary Miracles.

Businesses interested in sponsoring the tournament are invited to check out the league’s website (visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link) and volunteers are need to help with score-keeping duties. Anyone who is interested in participating as a sponsor or volunteer can contact the Hillcrest Classic tournament director, John Gore, at (619) 251-0720, or by email at jgore2063@aol.com.