Longtime Roundball Classic organizer Allen Deep is handing the keys over to his son, Allen.

Although it is more like the Deeps are switching seats – father moves to the passenger side while son takes the wheel – following year No. 22 of the all-star basketball weekend, which returns Saturday and Sunday at North Allegheny.

“I’ll be with the Roundball Classic until I die,” the elder Deep said. “I am semi-retiring. It will be a transition over a few years. Young Allen has been around and knows how things work. He has some new ideas for the future of the event.”

The younger Deep runs RTS (Run The Show) player development in Cranberry.

There were 214 senior players from the WPIAL, City League, and Districts 9 and 10 selected for this year’s Roundball, although that number is down because girls’ rosters have been trimmed substantially.

“We’ve had a lot of girls decide not to play,” the elder Deep said. “We had to make some changes to the teams and schedule.”

The Roundball Classic was revived in 2004 by Deep, who wanted to bring back an event made popular by shoe guru Sonny Vaccaro, who presented the Dapper Dan Roundball Classic, which began in 1965 and departed Pittsburgh in 1992.

Deep didn’t invent the Roundball, but he has worked to keep it relevant. That said, he knows athletes play other sports and begin to prepare for college much earlier than in the past.

He said the current format could change with fewer players and teams potentially making up future Roundball weekends.

“We’re going to take a look at it,” he said. “We want kids to want to play in the Roundball. It used to be a big deal. It was an honor.”

Deep said when he began running the event, the Roundball had two boys teams and two girls teams. At the event banquet, which was stopped in 2020, he had 90 people.

“The last banquet we had, before covid, we had 500.”

The event also used to last three days. Now, it is two. This year, there will be four boys games Saturday and two girls games Sunday. The original schedule had four girls games, but with so many withdrawals, Deep had to adjust.

Another change to look for this weekend is the Elam Ending, where teams will play to a target score neat the end of games. Late in the contests, the game clock will be turned off and a fixed target score will be set.

The NBA All-Star Game used the format in 2020.

“We think it will be fun,” the elder Deep said. “It will make it more competitive.”

Deep, the father, still plans to run yearly showcase events, such as the Shootout at Saint Vincent, for boys and girls teams.