A documentary about two Tucson basketball legends will screen in downtown Tucson on Saturday, bringing together sports, family history and the legacy of the city’s historic Sugar Hill neighborhood.

“The Backcourt: Basketball’s Best Kept Secret,” directed by Marquez Price and produced by Damian Becerra of Obsidian Lens Media, tells the story of Delano Price and Wallace “Hoegie” Simmons, childhood friends who helped lead Tucson High School to the 1969 Arizona state basketball championship.

That year, the Badgers beat Tempe for the Class AAA title, the last of the school’s eight state championships. Tony Morales coached the team, which also included Kenny Ball and 6-foot-10 center Elizaro “Chuco” Miranda.

Delano Price moved to Tucson from Gary, Indiana. He captained the Badgers, earned first-team all-city and all-state honors, and went on to play at Phoenix College before finishing his degree at the University of Arizona. He spent 33 years as a teacher, coach and administrator in the Sunnyside and Tucson Unified school districts, including as the first Black boys’ basketball coach at Sunnyside High School.

Simmons came from Monroe, Louisiana. He earned second-team all-city and all-state honors in 1969, started at Glendale Community College and then played at Texas A&M, where he averaged 30 points and was a two-time All-American, according to the Tucson Weekly.

Inspired by Marquez Price’s 2025 sports biography, also titled “The Backcourt,” the film follows the two athletes as they build their basketball careers, take different paths in life and maintain a friendship rooted in their shared experiences. The book came out in January 2025 and became an Amazon bestseller in three categories. Marquez Price has called it a legacy piece he has worked on his whole life.

However, the director says the film reaches far beyond basketball.

“I hope audiences walk away from the film educated,” Marquez Price said. “The story masquerades as a basketball one, but it’s very layered.”

The two players met as children in Sugar Hill, a historically Black neighborhood in central Tucson between Stone and Fourth avenues, south of Grant Road.

The neighborhood took shape in the 1950s, when Black families began moving in during a time when racial covenants and redlining limited where they could buy homes. The share of Black residents has dropped since the 1980s, which Sugar Hill Community Land Trust founder Sadie Shaw has largely blamed on gentrification.

Through personal accounts and testimonies from others, the documentary examines the players’ experiences alongside the history of Sugar Hill, which shaped their lives in the community.

For the director, who is Delano Price’s son, making the film also became a chance to uncover previously unknown details about his own family.

“The most memorable part of making the film was unveiling intricacies of my family lineage that I was totally unaware of,” Price said. “It was utterly fascinating.”

The Nov. 7 event is scheduled for 2 p.m. at The Screening Room, 127 E. Congress St. in downtown Tucson. The event listing also advertises a reading by Price from his book and a live musical score by MicTV.

Tickets are available through Eventbrite. Reservations can also be made by contacting Price at marquez_prc@yahoo.com or 520-869-3659.

Kyleigh Pandhi is a University of Arizona alum and freelance journalist based in Tucson. Contact her at kyleighpandhi@gmail.com.

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