Top Hoop Teams Coming to Town
By Joe Giardina

On January 28, the A.J. Palumbo Center will play host to a high school basketball tournament that will match some of the best teams in the country.

The Pittsburgh Basketball High School Classic will include five WPIAL teams and three out-of-state teams, including perennial powers Mount Vernon High School (NY) and Oak Hill Academy (VA).

"The event was put together to rebuild the basketball tradition in western Pennsylvania," said John Giamarco of the Pittsburgh Basketball Club, one of the men responsible for putting the event together. "We get the opportunity to show the city of Pittsburgh to some of America's top teams."

Although it is being held at Duquesne's Palumbo Center this year, the tournament will be back in 2008 and will take place at Pitt's Petersen Events Center. There are plans to make the Pittsburgh Basketball High School Classic a yearly event and rotate arenas. Robert Morris University has showed interest in hosting the event as well and could join the rotation in the near future.

"It's a great sign to see the local Division 1 colleges wanting to actively be a part of this event," said Giamarco. "We've finally got to the point where we've got the facilities and basketball players that we can showcase in this type of a national forum."

Terrelle Pryor, one of the best athletes in the nation in both basketball and football, will headline the first game between Jeanette and highly-ranked Chartiers Valley. The second scheduled game will match Aliquippa and their two national stars-Herb Pope and Jonathan Baldwin-against the defending New York state champions, Mount Vernon High School.

"I like to expose my players to a different part of the country," said Mount Vernon Knights head coach Bob Cimmino. "I heard there was real good competition and it's a nice chance to play in a great venue."

It is also a nice chance for some of his top players to see the schools who are recruiting them. Like 6'7" junior forward Kevin Jones, who is being courted by Pitt as well as many other schools across the country. The Knights also have senior guard Michael Coburn, who has already committed to Rutgers, and sophomore swingman Sherrod Wright who Cimmino says is "off the charts."

The third scheduled game of the event will match Oak Hill Academy against Our Savior of the New America, from Queens, New York. Oak Hill has put many players in the NBA, including most recently Carmelo Anthony, Josh Smith and Marcus Williams. This year they boast a talented lineup full of D-1 recruits, including three players in the top 100. Six-foot-four guard Alex Legion has committed to Michigan, 6'4" guard Nolan Smith will play for Duke, and 6'9" forward Julian Vaughn has signed with Florida State.

In late December, a fourth game was added, matching up Hopewell against New Castle.

"Other cities want to come to Pittsburgh to play basketball," said Giamarco. "Teams will be visiting our airport, staying in our hotels. This is nothing more than a showcase of the city of Pittsburgh."

Western Pennsylvania has always been known for its outstanding high school football, but tournaments like the Pittsburgh Basketball High School Classic show that basketball is beginning to get noticed as well.

"Football in western Pennsylvania has been an icon and consistently strong for 40-50 years. It's a different animal," Giamarco said, admitting that basketball might never reach the legendary status that football has achieved. "But we are going to start seeing the turn around of basketball in Pittsburgh and it will get stronger and stronger in the next five years."

Joe Giardina is a staff writer for PSR. He wrote about the college football bowl scene in December 2006.