A new college summer basketball league will be held in Cedar Rapids this June and July, featuring players from Coe, Mount Mercy and Kirkwood.

The Midnight Hoops College Summer League will run for eight weeks, with games on Sundays at Coe and possibly Mount Mercy.

The plan is to have four teams of seven or eight players apiece. In addition to local college players from Coe, Mount Mercy and Kirkwood, the league will be open to local players who are playing at other colleges and are home for the summer.

There also could be openings for current high school players from the area, depending on their ability and available spots in the league, and for former college players as well.

Jason Pershing, the Midnight Hoops Summer College League director, said they want to keep the quality of play as high as possible.

"That's the most important thing," he said Wednesday. "The level of competition could be really high."

Games will be played at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. on Sundays and will be regulation 40-minute college games with officials, clock operators, scorekeepers and statisticians. "We want to give the feel of a real game," he said.

Pershing graduated from Cedar Rapids Washington in 1998 and Mount Mercy University in 2003, where he played basketball. He currently works at Coe as an Upper Bound Academic Advisor and was an assistant coach at Washington this past season.

Pershing said there was a summer league similar to this at Mount Mercy a few years ago. "It went really well," he said.

"There's a lack of good games and places to play," he said. "Hopefully we can keep it going."

Each team will have a player/coach, typically somebody who played in college and is still an active player with coaching experience.

Pershing said the head coaches at Coe, Mount Mercy and Kirkwood support the league and are encouraging their players to participate this summer.

There will be a player draft to select the teams on Wednesday, May 30. The first games will be played on Sunday, June 3 and the championship game is scheduled for Sunday, July 29.

The fee is $20 per player for eight games. Each team will have a sponsor.

Players may contact Pershing at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.