Work is already under way to bring top-rated players and teams to Springfield in 2014.
Whitney Young High School and junior center Jahlil Okafor (right) will highlight the lineup for the 2014 Spalding Hoophall Classic.
SPRINGFIELD – The Spalding Hoophall Classic has undergone several transformations in its 12 years of existence, but outstanding high school basketball and top-notch entertainment for the fans have been a constant.
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame director of events and awards Greg Procino said there is no reason that should change in 2014.
The nation’s premier high school invitational wrapped up on Monday with a day filled with overflowing stands and great basketball, highlighted by the marquee match-up of Findlay Prep and Monteverde Academy that ended with a game-winning 3-pointer by Nigel Williams-Goss of Findlay.
“Every year is a little bit different, with different challenges, different types of teams, but we had a very good weekend and had some very good games,” Procino said. “The thing about it is it’s always a bit of educated luck because we do this so far in advance.
“What looks good on paper in March we hope still looks good on paper come January,” he added. “When the match-ups play out as well as the Montverde-Findlay game did, it really does bring some extra energy to the arena. So overall it was a very successful weekend and the final day was the icing on the cake.”
While the Findlay-Montverde game proved to be the best of the five played on Monday at Springfield College’s Blake Arena, the lineup that included national powers St. Anthony’s, Oak Hill Academy, Simeone and DeMatha Catholic filled the stands and then some.
“Monday was the single largest crowd we ever had show up for the Hoophall Classic,” Procino said. “When it was 9:30 a.m. or so, a half-hour before the first game and the stands were at full, we knew we were in for a challenge.”
Hundreds of people waited outside the arena doors before the first game, and while some left disappointed, Procino said most waited it out and were able to eventually get inside. He estimated the attendance that day, with fans coming and going at the 2,000-seat arena, was 3,500 or more.
Such weekends are what local fans, visiting high school programs and college coaches have come to expect from the Hoophall Classic, which started in 2002 as the Basketball Hall of Fame High School Invitational and was held at Western New England University.
The tournament moved for good to Springfield College in 2004 and was named the Magic32 Hoophall Classic in 2006 after the sneaker and apparel company of Magic Johnson before Spalding took over as the title sponsor in 2007.
Terrific basketball has been a constant over the years, and Procino said he had eight to 10 national programs under contract for 2014 before the weekend was done.
“The big one is that Whitney Young is going to come back from Chicago,” Procino said. “They played Saturday afternoon and they’ve got the top-rated junior in the country (Jahili Okafor), and they have slew of juniors on the team and are ranked third in the country right now.”
Oak Hill, Mater Dei and St. Benedicts are also among the national programs that have already agreed to return next year, and with the tournament’s cache as well as national exposure through live broadcasts by ESPN, more top-rated players and teams are sure to call Springfield home for the Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2014.