By Tom Groeschen
The Cincinnati Enquirer

The nation's hottest street basketball tour hits Cincinnati today, when the AND 1 Mix Tape Tour visits U.S. Bank Arena.

The tour, featured on the ESPN2 series "Streetball" for the past year, is billed as a combination of freewheeling basketball and hip-hop. AND 1 is a basketball and apparel company based outside Philadelphia, and its NBA endorsers include stars such as Stephon Marbury, Ben Wallace and Shawn Marion.

IF YOU GO

• What: AND 1 Mix Tape Tour • Where: U.S. Bank Arena • When: 4 p.m. - Open Run qualifiers; 7:30 p.m. - Featured game • Tickets: Game tickets are $17, $22, $27, $32 and $52 at all Ticketmaster outlets, ticketmaster.com, and1.com , by phone at (513) 562-4949, and at U.S. Bank Arena box office. • Information: Visit and1.com or usbankarena.com

The Cincinnati stop is the 20th on AND 1's 33-city summer tour, with local players - all ages and both genders - invited to compete today for the right to play the main AND 1 team.

An "open run" will be staged from 4-6:30 p.m. in the parking lot adjacent to U.S. Bank Arena, with registration beginning at 3:30 p.m. AND 1 players will judge and select the best players, with three finalists chosen to play on a team vs. the AND 1 stars at 7:30 p.m. today at U.S. Bank Arena.

"It's a free experience, and in this case, we call out to all Cincinnati area ballplayers to come out and play," said Taylor Duffy, AND 1 public relations coordinator. "The only thing is if you're under 18, you need a parent or guardian with you. We had an 11-year-old from Chicago who made it, and we've had females make the main game."

The AND 1 players, aged 23-34, are best known to fans by their street names. The top stars include Main Event, Hot Sauce, AO, and Half Man/Half Amazing, Duffy said.

"You wouldn't know them by their real names, but our fans will recognize the street names," Duffy said. "There are some great players."

One "real name" who occasionally makes the AND 1 scene is Rafer Alston, a Toronto Raptors backup point guard last season who now is an NBA free agent. Alston, whose street name is Skip To My Lou, won't be in Cincinnati, but most of the other top AND 1 names will be, Duffy said.

"People try to liken this to the Harlem Globetrotters, but it's really not like that," Duffy said. "It's just straight-up basketball with a flair for entertainment."

ESPN will be filming tonight's event as part of the second season of the "Streetball" series. The tour also is accompanied by top "MC's" from around the nation, who will be playing the latest hip-hop music, and companies, including sponsor Mountain Dew Code Red, will have booths, prizes, and games set up at U.S. Bank Arena.

Email: tgroeschen@enquirer.com.