When it comes to planning any winter sporting event that brings teams to your campus or community from out of town, there are two things you can’t control: Illness and bad weather.
In the case of this weekend’s eighth annual McCallie Dr. Pepper Classic, the first of those has forced the nation’s top prep basketball program – Link Academy of Branson, Missouri – to withdraw due to a flu outbreak.
“Link was trying to make it work, but we all just ran out of time,” said Kenny Sholl, assistant head of McCallie.
“They’ve had four boys come down with the flu and several others who are symptomatic. Unfortunately, these things can happen this time of year.”
The Lions’ last-minute exit has forced a re-working of the schedule for both Friday and Saturday nights, but won’t alter the total number of games. McCallie will now play Winston-Salem Christian at 6 p.m. on Friday with Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy facing Moravian Prep at 8. On Saturday, the Coffee County-Red Bank contest will remain in its 4 p.m. slot with Hamilton Heights now playing Winston-Salem Christian at 6 and McCallie-Moravian Prep wrapping up the event at 8.
Both the Mountain View Auto Group luncheon featuring guest speaker Phil Ford and the Saturday morning kids clinic for grades 1-5 between 10 a.m. and noon in the Student Activities Center are unchanged.
While Link is the first high-profile basketball school to drop out of the Dr. Pepper Classic, it certainly wasn’t the first top five school to appear here. Last year’s No. 1 program, Sunrise Christian Academy, played here. Oak Hill out of Virginia has played here twice. Florida’s IMG Academy has been here. La Lumiere out of Indiana has made an appearance. Hamilton Heights has played in the Dr Pepper every single year. All of these schools have sent multiple players to Power Five conference schools, as well as the NBA.
Both Moravian and Winston-Salem Christian expect to add to that excellence, especially Winston-Salem Christian, “a brick-and-mortar school” according to head coach Antonio Lowe, who’s lifted the Lions to a 31-3 record and a No. 24 ranking in ESPN’s newest national prep rankings.
“Our school has been around for 40 years,” said Lowe, who previously coached at Moravian. “We’re not a Nike School. We don’t have five-star prospects. Our kids aren’t doing online classes like a lot of these basketball schools. We’re just a defensive-minded program that brings a lot of energy.”
Luncheon speaker Phil Ford, arguably the best point guard in the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill’s long and storied history, figures to bring both a lot of energy and wisdom to the six competing teams that will be in attendance for that sold-out event.
For men of a certain age, many of whom will make up a good chunk of the crowd, Ford will probably always be regarded as no worse than the second best collegiate point guard of their lifetime, either right behind or right next to Magic Johnson during his days at Michigan State.
The Rocky Mount, N.C. native was not only a three-time first team All-American, but also the NBA’s rookie of the year and a key member of the 1976 U.S. gold medal-winning Olympic team.
And certainly speakers such as Ford have helped the Dr Pepper stand out through the years. From Ernie Johnson Jr. of “Inside the NBA” fame to former Michigan basketball player Austin Hatch, who lost both his parents in separate airplane crashes more than a decade apart, to Blake Leeper, the Knoxville native who has become a world-class runner on artificial limbs, to former NFL quarterback Ryan Leaf, former NFL linebacker Gary Brackett, and former Duke and NBA great Mike Giminski, each year’s luncheon audience has heard inspiring, emotional and uplifting stories of overcoming loss and adversity.
Ford’s message is sure to be no different.
“I’ve come to the games for years,” said Red Bank coach Nick Fike. “But a chance for our kids to hear from an all-time basketball great such as Ford is what makes this so special. We’re so excited to be included this year.”
But once the luncheon ends, much of the rest of the weekend is about outstanding young basketball talent, many of whom are likely to one day rise to stardom in both high-level college ball and later the NBA.
Players such as Shea Gilgeous-Alexander, the former Hamilton Heights and University of
Kentucky star who is averaging an eye-popping 30.9 points, 5.6 assists, 4.8 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 1.1 blocks for the NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder, numbers that currently have him in the running for league MVP.
Or former Oak Hill and Kansas star David McCormack and former IMG and current North Carolina star Amando Bacot, who were both named to the 2022 Final Four all-tournament team.
But that’s just the beginning. Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson played here in 2017 as a member of La Lumiere before going on to Michigan State. Former Holy Spirit and University of Georgia star and current Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards played here in 2019. Former Oak Hill and Kentucky star Keldon Johnson, a key reserve on last summer’s gold medal-winning U.S. Olympic team, is currently the leading scorer on the San Antonio Spurs.
At least 14 Dr Pepper alums have reached the NBA, including former La Lumiere and Michigan alum Jordan Poole, who averaged 18.5 ppg last season in significantly impacting the Golden State Warriors’ run to an NBA title. And three of those – Gilgeous-Alexander, Edwards and Johnson – lead their teams in scoring.
As for current college standouts, University of Tennessee big man Uros Plavic once played here for Hamilton Heights, Alabama point guard Jaden Bradley played here with IMG and Kansas freshman sensation Gradey Dick was here last season with Sunrise Christian. Max Shulman, former McCallie coach John Shulman’s oldest son, recently became the leading career 3-point shooter for his dad’s current employer: the University of Alabama-Huntsville.
Start with Moravian Prep coach Jeremy Ellis’s son Isaac. Only a freshman, the hot-shooting Isaac already has 151,000 followers on Instagram.
Nor should McCallie guards Parker Robison and Kollin Claridy be ignored. Robison is the returning Justin Tate Homes 3-point contest champ and Claridy the defending Truck ‘N Trailers USA Dunk Contest champ.
“We feel so fortunate to have Moravian Prep and Winston-Salem Christian coming here,” said Sholl. With Winston-Salem ranked 24th nationally, it continues the Dr. Pepper tradition of having nationally known and respected programs, and we’re all excited to hear Phil Ford.”
But however great the basketball, first-year Blue Tornado head coach Steve Robison knows that perhaps the biggest reason power programs such as Winston-Salem Christian are drawn to the Dr Pepper is the non-competitive basketball activities such as the luncheon and the Saturday morning kids clinic.
“The luncheon and the kids clinic turn just another game into an event,” said Robison. “It all starts with our Dr. Pepper board, (athletic director) Jeff Romero and Audrey Smith, who does such a fabulous job organizing it all and really taking care of the kids. Teams get to interact at the luncheon, the dunk contest and kids clinic, getting to know each other as friends rather than opposing players. It becomes an experience they’ll remember for the reset of their lives.”
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