Field Includes Teams from DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Knoxville, South Carolina, and Washington State
All Games Played at Gonzaga College High School
PDF Version of release
Printable Bracket
December 9, 2019 – The 31st Annual Gonzaga DC Classic basketball tournament begins Friday afternoon, December 13, at Gonzaga College High School in Washington, DC. Games continue Saturday and Sunday at Gonzaga’s Carmody Center gym.
Gonzaga, #1 in the area in the Washington Post’s Week 1 rankings, will be joined in this advancing tournament by a very strong field featuring top talent and highly recruited athletes from DC and around the nation.
Along with Gonzaga, DC area teams competing for the championship include the highly ranked St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School (VA) and Georgetown Prep (MD). They join a national field including Baltimore’s McDonogh School (MD), Gonzaga Preparatory School (Washington State), Gray Collegiate (SC), Philadelphia’s Imhotep Institute (PA), and Knoxville Catholic (TN). All proceeds from sponsorships, program advertising, and ticket sales go to support Gonzaga’s far-reaching service programs here in the Washington region and across the United States. The tournament’s slogan is “Great Basketball Supporting Good Works.”
Games begin at 3:15 on Friday, December 13th when Knoxville Catholic takes on Georgetown Prep. The 5:00 game will feature Gonzaga Prep versus host Gonzaga College High School. At 6:45, Gray Collegiate faces the McDonogh School, and the 8:30 game will feature Imhotep Institute and St. Stephen’s St. Agnes. Second round games begin at 3:15 on Saturday at Gonzaga. Sunday’s games, which will also be played at Gonzaga, begin at 12:30 PM and the championship match-up is set for 5:45 Sunday. Full bracket information and game times are available at www.gonzagadcclassic.org.
Tickets are $10 per day. A three-day tournament pass is available for $25.
The entire tournament will be webcast and can be viewed at the tournament website: www.gonzagadcclassic.org. The webcast will also be available via Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/GonzagaDCClassic. The official tournament Twitter feed can be found at @gonzagaclassic and we’re on Instagram at GonzagaDCClassic.
Qualified organizations and individuals (press, college coaches, scouting services) may request tournament passes via email to Mike Griffen at michael.griffen@gmail.com. Please include name(s) and links to your publication(s), website(s), and/or Twitter feed(s).
Brief profiles of participating teams can be found below.
The Georgetown Prep Little Hoyas enter the 2019-2020 season with high hopes. After an up and down 2018-2019 season, competing in the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC), Prep returns to the hardwood with a young core and a few veterans with varsity experience. The Little Hoyas were winners of the 2018 Rotary Roundball Classic tournament, and, to close out the regular season, defeated a 25-3 St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes team, the eventual IAC and Virginia State champion. The Little Hoyas went on to finish the year strongly in IAC playoffs, advancing to the semifinals where they lost a heartbreaker to a top ranked St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes.
Prep has a solid core of seniors returning, led by Mark Llewellyn, JB Strachan (Pennsylvania State University lacrosse commit), and Quentin Southall, who plans to attend the University of Richmond as a preferred walk-on. Georgetown Prep will also depend on juniors Zion Russell, and Matthew Akers, a 6’7 forward. 6’7 sophomore forward/wing, Stefan Marcelle, who is loaded with potential stands to have a breakout season. The Little Hoyas will play a very competitive 2019-2020 schedule. They will begin with the Morgan Wooten Tip-Off Showcase against Bishop O’Connell (VA), followed by St. Andrews (MD), and Flint Hill (VA), before competing in the Gonzaga D.C. Classic at Gonzaga College High School. Georgetown Prep will close out non-conference play facing local Maret High School in the IAC/Metropolitan Athletic Conference (MAC) challenge and battle St. John’s (DC) in the Shepherd’s Foundation Game here in Washington, DC. Their IAC schedule will be very competitive with opponents including St. Stephen’s & St Agnes, Bullis School, (Potomac MD), and Alexandria, Virginia’s Episcopal High School, all ranked locally.
Gonzaga enters the 2019-20 season as the reigning Washington Catholic Athletic Conference (WCAC) Champions led by Coach Steve Turner, now in his 16th season (369-162). The Purple Eagles have a veteran team with 10 lettermen from last year’s team (28-9).
Key for Gonzaga this year are senior forward Terrance Williams (6-7), 1st Team All-Conference and All-Met player; senior guard Chuck Harris (6-3), All-Conference Honorable Mention player committed to Butler; and senior forward Myles Stute (6-7) committed to Vanderbilt. Seniors Carlos Hubb, Josiah Hardy, and Christian Ficca, a Georgetown baseball commit, will provide veteran leadership, pressing defense and power rebounding.
Other players to watch are juniors Malcolm Dread and Will Scherer, sophomores Devin Dinkins, Judah Mintz, Quinn Clark, Jared Turner and freshman Thomas Batties. Gonzaga will play a very competitive WCAC schedule with Paul VI, DeMatha and Gonzaga all nationally ranked. Other nationally ranked opponents include Sunrise Christian (KS), La Lumiere (IN), Rancho Christian (CA) and 3 teams at the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Myers, Florida.
Gonzaga Preparatory High School, located in Spokane, WA, is making its debut appearance in the Gonzaga DC Classic. The Bullpups boast a 52-2 record the last two seasons with the only two losses coming in national tournaments.
After back to back state 4A championships in 2018 and 2019, this year’s Bullpup team is looking to reload under the senior leadership of shooting guard, Liam Lloyd, who averaged 13 points per game last season as a starter. Coach Matty McIntyre will look to Lloyd and forward/post Jayden Stevens, his only other returner from last year’s team, as well as newcomers, Hodges Flemming and Joe Few, to instill the Bullpups’ trademark swarming defense and make a run at championships of their league and at the state tournament. Notable alumni of Gonzaga Prep include recent graduate, Anton Watson, a three-time MVP of the Greater Spokane League, a two time MVP of the State 4A tournament and a current member of the Gonzaga University Bulldog basketball team in Spokane.
Gray Collegiate Academy from West Columbia, SC, is seeking its third consecutive South Carolina High School Class 2A crown and has an infusion talent to make that goal a distinct possibility. Coach Dion Bethea welcomes three talented seniors, led by 6’6” forward Latavian Lawrence, last season’s Augusta (SC) Chronicle South Carolina State Player of the Year as a junior after averaging 15.7 ppg and 8.4 rpg while shooting 35 percent from three-point range. Another forward, Zaire Rogers, a 6’6” native of Patterson, NJ, is an excellent rebounder and has plenty of experience as a battling Division1 type player. Taurus Watson comes from White Knoll High School of Lexington, SC, and knows how to run a team. Chase McDuffie (6.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg) is a holdover from last year’s team and a big-time talent who has shown that he is scratching the surface of his potential. Gray Collegiate also has two talented freshmen in Brandon Gardner (6’6”) and Montravis White (5’9”) to add to the skills and depth of the returning players.
Imhotep Charter is, year-in and year-out, one of Philadelphia’s most successful high school basketball programs. Since joining the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) in 2004, the Jaguars boast a 379-84 record. Over those 15 seasons, Imhotep has won eight Philadelphia Public League, five city and seven PIAA Class 4A state championships.
At the helm since 2004 has been head coach Andre Noble, who has led Imhotep to 14 consecutive 20-win seasons, a Philadelphia high school record. In addition, Imhotep has had over 25 NCAA Division I signees during that time.
Leading this year’s squad is senior forward Elijah Taylor, who has committed to the University of Notre Dame. At 6’ 8” and 215 pounds, Taylor brings size, strength and defense around the basket. Others to watch are 6’ 6” senior forward Kamrohn Roundtree and senior guard Sami Wylie. Both have improved and provide leadership for this edition of the Panthers. A young core led by sophomores Naji Reid, Ronny Raphael and Enai White will be depended on. Freshmen Rahmir Barno, Justin Edwards and Yahmir Satterfield will also play key roles.
In addition to the Gonzaga DC Classic, Imhotep will take part in the Scholastic Play by Play Classic on December 27 against Philadelphia rival Roman Catholic (a multiple-time Gonzaga DC Classic champion). In January 2020, Imhotep travels to Bradenton, Fla. to take part in the IMG Classic and to Erie, Pa. to play in the Burger King Classic.
The Knoxville Catholic Fighting Irish start the 2019-20 as strong contenders in the Eastern District of the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division II-AAA. The Irish finished a strong 2018-19 campaign with a district record of 12-4 and an overall record of 25-7.
Under the leadership of Coach Mike Hutchens, Knoxville Catholic is touted as having the most talented lineup in the Greater Knoxville area heading into the 2019-20 season. The roster includes senior center Akeem Odusipe, a heavily recruited big man (offers from Maryland, West Virginia, and other D-1 programs), talented sophomores B.J. Edwards, Presley Patterson, and Handje Tamba, and freshman Christopher Cain.
The McDonogh Eagles basketball team finished the 2017-2018 season with a 18-10 record and made it to the semi-final round of the MIAA conference tournament where they lost in overtime. Led by Coach T.J. Jordan, who is in his 4th season, the program has a strong group of returners.
The team returns; 6’ point guard Everett Cooper (10 ppg), 6’5 wing Jared Billups (7 ppg), 6’5 wing Preston Howard (6 ppg) and 6’6 center Dani Dennis- Sutton (6 rebounds per game).
Coach T.J. Jordan is also excited about a young group of freshman guards who will be thrown into the fire early and often. He thinks that his young team (only 3 seniors on the roster) is poised to be a strong defensive minded group who will come of age during the season by playing a tough MIAA schedule and a very challenging out of conference schedule.
St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School (SSSAS) from Alexandria, Virginia is part of the Interstate Athletic Conference (IAC) and returns to the Gonzaga DC Classic for the first time since 2005. The Saints are coming off a very successful 2018-19 campaign where they finished 27-3. They finished the season ranked #5 in the final Washington Post poll and were ranked as high as #32 in the MaxPreps National Rankings. The Saints collected a host of accomplishments last season to include Sleepy Thompson Tournament Champs, IAC Regular Season Champs, IAC Tournament Champs and VISAA D1 State Champs.
Led by Head Coach Mike Jones III, the Saints graduated six collegiate athletes but nonetheless return with an experienced roster. Three Saints have already committed to play Division I basketball next season: Xavier Lipscomb (Radford), Jared Cross (Army) and Andre Screen (Bucknell). Jamal Barnes and Chase Beasley round out the starting lineup with both garnering heavy interest at the Division I level. Several other Saints seniors have Division II and III interest. The future for the SSSAS program looks bright with several underclassmen who will one day compete at the Division I level and are looking to make their mark this season.
Coach Jones states, “This season is a great opportunity for our team and players collectively. SSSAS Boys’ basketball is one team striving for one goal. We are truly grateful and excited to participate in the Gonzaga DC Classic tournament.”
Brian Coll
(703) 298-1430 (mobile)
brianecoll1+dcclassic@gmail.com
Mike Griffen
(571) 643-2739 (mobile)
michael.griffen+dcclassic@gmail.com