Beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday, area high school basketball fans will have a hand in who will appear on this year’s edition of Hoopla, the Times-Journal’s annual high school and college basketball magazine.

Just as the newspaper did with Gridiron, fans will be able to vote for the athlete of their choice on the Times-Journal’s Facebook page. The athlete with the most votes will be on the cover of the magazine, set to publish in the Thursday, Nov. 28 edition of the Times-Journal.

“The response we saw to the contest for the Gridiron cover told us we needed to do the same thing for Hoopla,” Times-Journal editor Tim Reeves said. “Even though it’s a similar concept, there are some important differences between this vote and the one in August.”

Since each high school is represented by a boys and girls team, the Times-Journal is holding two separate contests; the first selecting a male player, while the second contest will select a female player. After the winners are selected, the two athletes will appear together on the cover.

Beginning Wednesday at 9 a.m. and lasting until Friday, Nov. 8 at 5 p.m., fans of the Times-Journal’s Facebook page will be able to vote on the male basketball player of their choice. Each of the county’s seven high schools and academies are represented.

Beginning Monday, Nov. 11, fans of the Times-Journal’s Facebook page can vote for the female athlete of their choice. That vote will end Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 5 p.m.

“There are so many good athletes in this area that we felt this was the fairest way to select who will be on the cover,” Reeves said. “As we saw in August when Dallas County’s athlete received the most votes, it’s the fan base that gets out the vote that wins, not necessarily the biggest school.”

When voting, fans will simply have to “like” the photo of their choice. Only “likes” will be counted. Comments and shares will not be counted as votes.

“We truly appreciate the athletes and their coaches for taking the time to help us with this contest and now, it’s in the hands of the fans,” Reeves said. “It’ll be fun to see who gets out and supports their school.”