All things being equal, last weekend’s staging of the first of what we hope to be many more Jamaica Classic Men’s NCAA Division One basketball games at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, was a runaway success.

As is to be expected, the organisers will lose money in the first staging, but if the many bugs that plagued this staging are worked out, there is nothing to say that next year’s staging will not be bigger and much better.

Seven NCAA Division One basketball teams, led by Florida State Seminoles and the Mike Dunleavy-led Tulane University, brought to Jamaica high-level basketball, the likes of which we have never seen.

The most obvious drawback to last weekend’s staging, though, was the sparse turn out, especially on the first day due mainly to a lack of local publicity. But, thankfully, the crowds and the excitement later improved, and the anticipation for next year is already building with all the stakeholders — local and foreign — all looking forward to what we expect to be a massive event.

Among the spinoff from the three-day tournament, was a clinic held for high school players on Saturday, and the opportunity to watch live basketball played at a level, which, before this they could only see on television.

No doubt the event would have sparked ambitions in some of these players to work harder and hopefully strive to get scholarships to play college basketball.

What could be the most important tangible benefit to western Jamaica, and the country on a whole, is the ‘gift’ of a top-class basketball court and backboard that will be left here.

This could be the lasting legacy of the staging. And while it cannot be left for all and sundry to go “run up and down” on, the stakeholders, including the government, the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of Tourism, Jamaica Amateur Basketball Association, the Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association (ISSA) and the Western Basketball Association, must come together and find ways to ensure that this state-of-the- art court is not left in storage for the next 12 months.

Events should be organised that will allow local players from high schools, clubs and the national teams to use the US$150,000 equipment that can only help to improve their games.

It would be a massive step-up from playing on uneven surfaces made from concrete or asphalt with uneven rims, and if the authorities fail to utilise and maximise the use of the court, then it would be an indictment on their stewardship.