(St. Louis, MO) – High school basketball is fresh, it’s new, it is unpredictable and that’s why we love it. When you add in the three-day tournament element to the mix, well it is just down right fun.
I had the privilege to broadcast several games at the Denver Miller Classic and was reminded of why we race to these gyms to see these games.
There are better games on television and virtually every college game is on some media outlet. So the basketball junky doesn’t have to get off his couch to watch a game (and we hope some of you watched ours on www.prepsportsshowcase.com!), but there is just something about being at courtside watching these 15-18 year-olds trying to figure it all out.
The talent level for the Kirkwood High School based event was outstanding. Top-seeded and eventual champion O’Fallon was led by one of the top unsigned seniors in Illinois, in Donovan Franklin. Liberty North’s junior post player Michael Hughes is going to make some college basketball program very happy.
McCluer North, Kirkwood and Jennings are always good and all Wade Bouslog does at Duchesne is win. This was a quality smorgasbord for the hoop aficionado.
But these young men are unpredictable! Who can predict that O’Fallon reserve Caleb Wegner would come off the bench to score 21 points in the championship game? Who could predict that Liberty North would play man-to-man against Kirkwood when they played zone in virtually every minute of every other game this year and at this Classic.
Kirkwood coach Bill Gunn told me was proud to bring the Classic to life in honor of the legendary Pioneer coach Denver Miller. I had a chance to speak with Coach Gunn before the semi-final round games.
The staff at Kirkwood are the perfect hosts. Athletic Director Corey Nesslage is a real pro and he and his staff run a tremendous tournament in a beautiful gym. Bringing in teams from Illinois and from across the state was a master stroke.
I’m ready for some regular season games, but I love mid-season tournaments!
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Caleb Stone-Carrawell is in the portal. @SaintLouisMBB or some @ValleyHoops team ought to get this guy.
.@BustingBrackets gives a brief intro to the 5 new @ValleyHoops head coaches.
I don't blame players for leaving, but this wild fluctuation is going to kill fan interest. When the TV people's ratings go down and the attendance figures keep falling, maybe the 'Suits' will wake up and fix this.
I think I'm going to enter the portal.
