You could purchase scrapbook paper that looks like a basketball or with basketballs on it, attach a picture of each team mate on the paper and slip it into a clear plastic frame ($1 Store). If there are more players then tables, double up and put 2 frames on a table, back to back. Also, you could sprinkle the tables with basketball confetti.

Can you get practice balls and old nets from the school and use those? Perhaps intertwined with a little ivy or placed on some scrap hardwood flooring (cheerfully donated by a local flooring store).

beverly

I guess I would take a different focus. I'd use inexpensive bowls of flowers or candles in school colors and use basic napkins and placemats in white or another coordinating or non-distracting color. I wouldn't worry about having a basketball theme at each table. I don't think people will remember that part. They'll just remember whether or not it looked nice.

I think candy bouquets would be perfect.

You could use all different containers... whatever you can find at the thrift shop. Then use predominantly maroon and gold ribbon. Rather than kiddie candy as shown in the picture, you could use miniature candy bars. You just stick them on a skewer and stick them into the styrofoam core. Use ribbon, tulle or cellophane as fillers. Live flowers and greenery from your backyard make great fillers (so that ya use less candy :)

{{gwi:1476230}}

Are you doing this for boys or girls?? What's the team mascot - maybe that could be used in some way. I'm in charge of our boys basketball team banquet also - and being it's for boys - they don't care about the foo-foo. We are doing a couple of groupings of balloons for the head tables (coaches) and for the individual tables we're just using some of the shredded paper used for baskets in our school colors (red, white and black). I found some basketball "eggs" at Big Lots (8 for $1) and I'm going to fill those with candy and just have them nestled in the shredded paper. Also found some Hershey Kisses with black and red wrapping and will scatter those along with the red and white Starlight mints and Big Red packs of gum. I also found some Japanese lanterns at our Party America store in orange ($1.29 ea). I'm going to see what I can do with some black ribbon to make the circles to make them look like basketballs. Our school mascot is a Roughrider - so we do a lot of stuff with the cowboy theme. I had found an old pair of boots at the thrift store and spray painted them red and stenciled RR on the boot like a brand - and I think I'll use those for the balloon weights.

Hope this helps a little.

Glenster is right, boys don't care abut the foo-foo. But they do tend to love chocolate so I like the candy bouquet idea with mini candy bars. They're usually wrapped in guy colors like brown and silver. Which would look great with the gold and maroon ribbon.

A cookie bouquet would work as well. Boys may not care about the foo-foo but when there's junk food in the mix, they're all over it.

Wow- I knew I could count on you guys for great ideas! I am going shopping tomorrow to see what I can put together from your suggestions and will let you know what I come up with. It is for a boys banquet and I know from my own boys that they don't really care too much about all the fluff. Our mascot is a falcon so I drew a blank with that one. Thanks so much for all your help!

I know that I have seen the basketball eggs at Shopko and at Walmart. Like someone mentioned you can put candy in these and use them as take away trinkets. Maybe even put a bowl of them at each table as center pieces. Also at dollar general look for the nerf basketball sets with hoops and balls. Maybe you could use those for centerpieces.

Stacie

When my son was in high school we used old basketballs and cur them in half and put a pot of flowers in the center. and it looked great. We used flowers in the school colors.