Error processing SSI file
|
COLUMBIA TO HOST FIRST MAJOR HIGH SCHOOL
BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
Published on: 10/23/2002
Section: SPORTS
Edition: FINAL
Page: C1
By GERALD DAVIS
Staff Writer
Columbia is set to enter the big-time of high school basketball when
it plays
host to its first major tournament in December.
The Chick-fil-A Classic will make its debut Dec. 19-21 and includes
some of the most highly touted players in the country. Richland
Northeast will play host to the 12-team tournament, which will be
played at RNE and Spring Valley.
Richland Northeast athletics director Gary Fulmer, with the help of
some local businesses, is putting together the finishing touches on
the tournament, an event he hopes will become as popular as the
Beach Ball Classic, which is played annually in Myrtle Beach and has
become one of the premiere prep tournaments in the country.
Fulmer, who coached Richland Northeast to the Class AAAA final last
season, retired from coaching basketball at the end of last season
and began to lay the ground work for the tournament.
There are other tournaments played in Columbia - The Columbia
Tip-off Tournament and the Capital City Classic. While both are
competitive tournaments, they fall short of reaching the level of
the Beach Ball Classic.
The Chick-fil-A Classic, which will be held a week before the Beach
Ball Classic, has the potential to be a huge draw.
"We can feed off of each other," Socastee High boys basketball coach
Dan D'Antoni said. "If there's a team in California, for example,
who we both want, we can share the (travel) expenses. Something like
that could happen."
There will be four Columbia teams (Richland Northeast, Spring
Valley, Brookland-Cayce, A.C. Flora) in the Chick-fil-A Classic.
Calhoun County, last season's Class AA runner-up; Silver Bluff;
defending Class AA champion Allendale-Fairfax and Myrtle Beach also
are scheduled to participate.
Landmark Christian (Fairburn Ga.), Lee Senior (Sanford N.C.), Durham
(N.C.) Hillside and McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) are the
out-of-state teams.
To make the tournament work, Fulmer borrowed ideas - starting a Web
site and going after the top national players - from some of the
most popular prep tournaments in the country. He'll need more than
that.
"It's quite an undertaking," said D'Antoni, who started the Beach
Ball Classic in 1981 as a fund-raiser for his program. "He'll need
the support of the community. Without that support, it won't happen.
He can't do it by himself."
So far, Fulmer's gotten the help.
The reason the Beach Ball Classic became a success, D'Antoni said,
was because the community didn't want to see it go away.
That first year, he said, he invited more out-of-state teams than
in-state. In the winter months, northern teams are looking to head
south for a week, and Myrtle Beach is as good a place as any.
"And we had great timing," D'Antoni said. "At that time, we were
probably the first (in the state) to have a tournament like this.
"When we got this started, we weren't thinking about making it a
national tournament. All we wanted was to make some money for our
basketball team."
And the success caught fire.
"It went from being a basketball tournament to being an event,"
D'Antoni said.
"At one time, we were pushing that rock. Now, the rock's chasing
us."
TOURNEY GLANCE
* What: Chick-fil-A Classic; n When: Dec. 19-21;
* Where: Richland Northeast and Spring Valley high schools;
* Top players participating: Durham (N.C.) Hillside's Bobby Perry, a
6-foot-8 senior forward, averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds last
season. He has verbally committed to Kentucky. Todd Henley of Lee
Senior (Sanford, N.C.) is a 6-9 forward who's committed to Wake
Forest. Silver Bluff's Brandon Wallace said he'll play for USC next
season.
* Web site: For more information on the tournament, visit
http://www.chick-fil-aclassic.com
GO BACK TO THE LIST OF ARTICLE |
|
|
