Best 2017-18 High School Events
Ohio basketball is fortunate to have one of the country’s top events, along with enough local talent to fill early season or holiday tournaments. To shed light on those premier events, we’ve compiled a list of the top events to attend during the 2017-18 high school basketball season.
Dec. 1-2: Ohio Valley Hoops Classic
Tony Peters wrote an extensive preview for this event, hosted at Southern State Community College.
Full schedule
Dec. 1-3: Great Lakes Classic
Cleveland Heights will host a 15 game event that lasts all weekend, featuring many interesting teams from Northeast Ohio. We will have a full preview on the site for this event tomorrow.
Dec. 2: All Ohio High School Hoops Showcase
The 11 game event at Whitehall Yearling has games going from 11 a.m. until nearly midnight on two courts. It’s a rare event in the sense that it pulls teams from every region from the state on opening weekend.
Top games include Pickerington Central against Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary, Pickerington North against Dayton Wayne, Africentric against Xenia, Olentangy Liberty against Mentor, Northland against Taft, and Beechcroft against Newark.
The best unsigned prospects include seniors Tre Williams (Reynoldsburg), Christian Smith (Rogers), Corey Baker (Pickerington North), Juan Elmore (Pickerington Central), Jejuan Weatherspoon (Northland), Dishon Daniels (Northland), Stevie Stewart (Northland), Elijah Bishop (Beechcroft), Datrey Long (Beechcroft), Jaedyn Carter (Columbus South), Tyjaun Childers (Whitehall Yearling), and Kameron Gibson (Walnut Hills).
Unsigned juniors to watch include Na’elle Simmons (Beechcroft), Keshawn Heard (Newark), William Mfum (Northland), Chris’seon Stringer (Taft), Demarco Bradley Jr. (Taft), Javohn Garcia (Pickerington Central), Lunden McDay (St. Vincent-St. Mary), Morgan Stafford (Bishop Hartley), Ben Fort (Reynoldsburg), Treohn Watkins (Columbus South), Ben Roderick (Olentangy Liberty), and Samari Curtis (Xenia).
Top underclassmen include Qian Magwood (Walnut Ridge), VonCameron Davis (Walnut Ridge), Jack Sawyer (Pickerington North), Seth Wilson (St. Vincent-St. Mary), Caleb Smith (Rogers) and Desean Nelson (Rogers).
Full schedule
Dec. 27-28: NEO Elite Christmas Classic
NEO Elite, better known for their summer showcases that attract national prospects to Garfield Heights, is hosting a 10 game event just after Christmas.
The best matchups are Solon versus Brush, Shaker Heights versus Cleveland Heights, Maple Heights versus Cleveland Central Catholic, and Garfield Heights versus St. Vincent-St. Mary.
Unsigned seniors include Tyler Williams (Brush), Kevin Peterson (Padua Franciscan), Christian Guess (Shaker Heights), Yahel Hill (Cleveland Heights), Grayson Green (Cleveland Heights), Alfonse Hale (Maple Heights), Delshawn Jackson (CCC), Dyshawn Jackson (CCC), Scott Walter (St. Vincent-St. Mary), and David Gulley (Lutheran East).
Juniors to watch are Andre Harris (Brush), DJ Dial (Brush), Jalen Pope (Massillon Washington), Jayson Woodrich (Beachwood), Alonzo Gaffney (Garfield Heights), Brison Waller (Garfield Heights), Lunden McDay (St. Vincent-St. Mary), and Brandon Rush (Warrensville Heights).
Top underclassmen at the event are John Hugley (Brush), Meechie Johnson (Garfield Heights), Brent Darby Jr. (Garfield Heights), Jesse Laster (Garfield Heights), Gilbert Davis (Garfield Heights), Seth Wilson (St. Vincent-St. Mary), Nehemiah Benson (Lutheran East), and Garvin Clarke (Euclid).
Full schedule
Jan. 6: OCC/City League Challenge
The Columbus event will be hosted at Pickerington North this season. The event pits teams from the Columbus City League and the Ohio Capital Conference against one another.
The five games in the OCC/City League Challenge are Linden-McKinley against Westerville North, Bishop Hartley against Groveport-Madison, Northland against Hilliard Bradley, Africentric against Upper Arlington, and Beechcroft against Pickerington North.
Unsigned seniors include Corey Baker (Pickerington North), Ross Ryan (Pickerington North), Elijah Bishop (Beechcroft), Datrey Long (Beechcroft), Jejuan Weatherspoon (Northland), Dishon Daniels (Northland), and Julius Brown (Westerville North).
Central Ohio juniors in this one include Phillip Alston (Westerville North), Morgan Stafford (Bishop Hartley), William Mfum (Northland), Na’elle Simmons (Beechcroft), and Max Martz (Upper Arlington).
Plenty of top underclassmen too, like Jack Sawyer (Pickerington North), Kobe Buford (Upper Arlington), Matt Allocco (Bradley), Chris Mayfield (Bradley), Jack Pugh (Bradley), and Chance Groce (Linden-McKinley).
Jan. 12- 15: Flyin’ to the Hoop
The third best showcase in the nation this season returns to Trent Arena.
Tony Peters wrote a three-part preview for Flyin’ to the Hoop, which we’ll link to here (Friday/Saturday, Sunday, Monday). Also, check out Prep Hoops previews from Andrew Force and Mike Fitzpatrick.
Full schedule
Jan. 28: Dunk 4 Diabetes
The 14 participants have been announced for this year’s Dunk 4 Diabetes, which is customarily held at Walsh University. Although we do not know the matchups at this point, there’s no chance of any bad games. The lineup consists of entirely intriguing teams: Archbishop Hoban, Brush, Benedictine, Cleveland Heights, Villa Angela-St. Joseph, Cornerstone Christian, Garfield Heights, Gilmour Academy, Lake Catholic, St. Edward, Pickerington North, Akron Revere, Shaker Heights, and Kennedy Catholic (PA).
Plenty of unsigned seniors in this one, including Collen Gurley (Hoban), Tyler Williams (Brush), Mario Caywood (Benedictine), Chris Jefferson (Benedictine), Yahel Hill (Cleveland Heights), Grayson Green (Cleveland Heights), Jerry “Gene” Higgins (VASJ), Martel Ferrel (Cornerstone Christian), Emmett Chambers (St. Edward), Corey Baker (Pickerington North), and Christian Guess (Shaker Heights).
The top juniors at Dunk 4 Diabetes are Andre Harris (Brush), DJ Dial (Brush), Davin Zeigler (Benedictine), Alonzo Gaffney (Garfield Heights), Brison Waller (Garfield Heights), CJ Charleston (Gilmour Academy), and Demetrius Terry (St. Edward).
Underclassmen headlines are John Hugley (Brush), Andy Barba (Benedictine), Evanell Lighty (VASJ), Meechie Johnson (Garfield Heights), Brent Darby Jr. (Garfield Heights), Jesse Laster (Garfield Heights), Gilbert Davis (Garfield Heights), Connor O’Toole (Gilmour Academy), Luka Eller (Lake Catholic), Luke Frazier (Lake Catholic), Grant Huffman (St. Edward), Devontae Blanton (St. Edward), Montorie Foster (St. Edward), and Jack Sawyer (Pickerington North).