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City of Palms Classic

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The City of Palms Classic is an annual high school basketball tournament held in Fort Myers, Florida. It is generally recognized as the nation's best bracketed holiday event.

History

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The tournament began in 1973 as a high school boys' basketball tournament with a seven-team format. The earliest editions featured teams primarily from the Fort Myers News-Press' high school coverage area, but there were some quality teams from around the state, including Lakeland High, Brandon, Pompano Beach, Glades Central and Okeechobee.

In 1985, Bill Pollock, a Fort Myers resident whose son, John, was a rising senior at Fort Myers High School, became involved in the tournament, as did News-Press preps editor Donnie Wilkie. The two teamed for more than three decades and the tournament, sponsored by Bank of America (formerly Barnett Bank and NationsBank) and later Culligan, quickly skyrocketed into a major national event. Pollock's son helped Fort Myers to the 1985 tournament championship against a still-mostly-local field and is now the President of Classic Basketball Inc. Currently, the tournament consists of a 16-team national bracket, with a pair of smaller brackets -- four-team "Sunshine Series" (featuring additional teams from mostly Florida and Georgia) and "Signature Series" (non-traditional schools and unsanctioned academies) tournaments. The tournament typically spans six days, and has been played the week before Christmas since 1991.

Among the City of Palms' early breakthroughs was a riveting, triple-overtime championship game in 1989, in which Flint Hill School, led by Randolph Childress, Cory Alexander and Serge Zwikker, defeated Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn, New York), led by Norman "Jou Jou" Marbury and Tchaka Shipp, 70-68, on a last-second 3-pointer by Childress, who went on to stardom at Wake Forest University.

Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) made its first appearance in 1991, finishing third after losing to Franklin Learning Center from Philadelphia in the semifinals. Two years later, in 1993, the tournament made history with a field that included Danny Fortson, Ron Mercer, Tim Thomas and future NFL quarterback Daunte Culpepper — all in consolation brackets. Crenshaw High School (Los Angeles, California) won that year's tournament, scoring 117, 99 and 98 points in three of its four games, and finished the season ranked No. 3 in the nation by USA Today. St. Augustine High School (New Orleans, Louisiana) won the following year and went on to capture USA Today's mythical national championship in boys' basketball. The success in the early and mid 1990s catapulted the tournament into national prominence.

The tournament has remained a highlight on the national schedule ever since, drawing the interest of major-college coaches and recruiting analysts alike. By 2024, 211 McDonald's All-Americans have played in the event,[1][2] and as of 2024, 133 players had been selected in the first round of the NBA draft.[3]

Montverde Academy became the first school to win consecutive City of Palms Classic titles since the tournament expanded beyond local teams in 2013, defeating Paul VI High School, and the Eagles have gone on to win five tourney titles under head coach Kevin Boyle. Montverde's first two championship wins were led by stars Dakari Johnson (2012), D'Angelo Russell (2012/13), and Ben Simmons (2013), and its most recent championship runs were powered by Cade Cunningham in 2021 and Cooper Flagg in 2023, respectively.

Montverde's last two losses at the City of Palms came in the 2014 championship game to Wheeler High School and star player Jaylen Brown and a 2015 quarterfinal to Chino Hills High School, who defeated The Patrick School from Elizabeth, New Jersey, in the last tournament played at Verot. The Patrick School was coached by Mike Rice, on the sidelines for the first time since being fired as the Rutgers coach. The tournament moved into the new Suncoast Credit Union Arena at Florida SouthWestern State College in December 2016.

In 2020, the tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the first time in the 48-year history that the tournament was canceled.[4] The tournament resumed the following year, in 2021.[5]

Locations

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The event has had six hosts in its 51-year history, including Edison Community College (Fort Myers, Florida) from 1973–83 and twice more in 1990 and '93, Cape Coral High School (Cape Coral, Florida) in 1984, Fort Myers High School (Fort Myers, Florida) from 1985–89 and the Harborside Convention Hall in downtown Fort Myers in 1991 and '92. The tournament found a long-term home when a new, 2,300-seat gymnasium was built at Bishop Verot High School (Fort Myers, Florida), where it was played from 1994 to 2015. In 2016, the tournament moved to Suncoast Credit Union Arena, a 3,300-seat facility on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College and remains there as of December 2024.

Organizers

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  • Hugh Thimlar, then-coach at Edison Community College, now known as Florida SouthWestern State College, and a small group of high school coaches and administrators guided the tournament through its early years. Thimlar's goals were to showcase the top talent in Southwest Florida, while also bolstering his recruiting.
  • Bill Pollock, a local businessman, served as the President of Classic Basketball, Inc., for most of his 36-year tenure. He retired in 2021.
  • Donnie Wilkie, the Tournament Director since 1985 and Vice President of Classic Basketball, Inc., named the annual event the "City of Palms Classic" in 1987, after The News-Press declined to continue as its title sponsor. His primary functions are the nation-wide recruitment of teams and the tournament's format and scheduling.
  • Though there have been numerous "Executive Directors" through the years, the two most recent — John Naylor (2015-22) and Mary Schaack (2022-present) — vastly expanded the tournament's sponsor base and overall financial well-being, despite the 2020 cancellation.

Past winners

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Historical Highlights

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Hall of Fame

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The tournament christened a "City of Palms Classic Hall of Fame" in coordination with its 50th Anniversary in 2023. The inauguaral class included:

  • Kevin Boyle, the all-time winningest coach in City of Palms Classic history (56-13, six championships in 19 appearances). His Montverde Academy teams have won 32 of 35 COP games while claiming five tournament titles since 2011. Boyle (344-26 at MVA, 854-158 overall) has won seven Chipotle Nationals and seven BallisLife Fab 50 national championships, including a 33-0 finish in 2023-24.
  • Teddy Dupay, a local star and McDonald’s All-American (1998) and the all-time leading scorer in Florida history with 3,744 points. His Mariner High School teams were 7-7 in four City of Palms Classics, and he scored 49 and 56 points in his final two COP games, earning co-MVP honors in 1997.
  • Gary McKnight, the winningest active coach in high school basketball (1,272-140 overall) has presided over Mater Dei High School's storied program for 43 years, with 11 state titles and one national championship (2014). His Monarchs (28-10 in 10 appearances) won City of Palms Classic titles in 2006 and 2008.
  • Bill Pollock served as the first President of Classic Basketball Inc. (1991-2021) during a 36-year tenure. His relationships with the community’s leaders and businesses helped to exponentially grow the event’s finances from its 1970s origins.
  • Hugh Thimlar launched the tournament in 1973, at Edison Community College, now known as Florida SouthWestern State College, where he coached for 26 years. The Indiana Basketball Hall of Famer (2008) won 604 games over 40 seasons as a head coach and also founded the Indiana-Kentucky High School All-Star series.

References

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  1. ^ Fisher, Adam. "City of Palms basketball: Looking back at 22 years at Bishop Verot". Naples News. Naples Daily News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  2. ^ "McDonald's All Americans".
  3. ^ Fisher, Adam. "City of Palms basketball: Looking back at 22 years at Bishop Verot". Naples News. Naples Daily News. Retrieved 9 September 2022.
  4. ^ Hill, Drew; Ross, Breana (October 7, 2020). "City of Palms Classic canceled for the first time in its 48-year history". Wink News.
  5. ^ Barie, Sean (December 21, 2021). "City of Palms Classic returns after sitting out a year". NBC-2.
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