Hamilton Heights, which just completed a successful season at the NACA national tournament in Dayton, has already taken a big leap into more nationwide prominence by accepting an invitation to play in the prestigious City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Fla., next December 20-22.
The Hawks, who went 28-5 this season with a highlight game at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, Va., the nation’s No. 1-ranked prep team by USA TODAY that’s currently 44-0, will participate in the COP Signature Series portion of the tournament, along with Potters House (Jacksonville, Fla.) Balboa City (San Diego, Calif.) and McDuffie (Pa.) Academy, among others.
Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler won the 2014 COP championship.
City of Palms is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the country,” Duke Stone, Hamilton Heights’ headmaster, said Tuesday evening. “ESPN covered the entire tournament this past December. It’s quite an honor for us to be invited and will serve as a gauge for where our program is headed.”
Donnie Wilkie, the COP vice president, saw Hamilton Heights play twice this season, once against Brainerd in a Christmas tournament at Chattanooga State and again when the Hawks traveled to Mouth of Wilson to take on Oak Hill.
“Once they saw us play at Oak Hill, they pretty much had made up their minds to invite us to the 2015 tournament,” Stone said.
In addition to the COP tourney, the Hawks, who will be led by senior-to-be Abdulhakim Ado, one of the country’s top center prospects for 2016 and the No. 1-ranked player in Tennessee by some recruiting services, have also been invited to the Penny Hardaway tournament in Memphis, another of the nation’s premier prep basketball events.
Hamilton Heights and Oak Hill have committed to play in the new North-South Classic in Bristol, Tenn., to play in that December tournament as well. The Hawks have decided to play in the Lighthouse Thanksgiving Classic in Corinth, Miss., too.
Still in the works is a return to Oak Hill for another regular season game and Stone said the Hawks are still trying to work out a deal for Oak Hill to play Hamilton Heights at Chattanooga State.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)