Nike, ESPN Eyeing Potential High School Basketball Tournament

Nike, Paragon Marketing and ESPN are "working on a postseason eight-team national high school boys basketball tournament" to be held April 3-4 at Georgetown Prep in DC, according to Jim Halley of USA TODAY. The tournament would include teams from across the country who "don't play for state championships," and would be held the same weekend as the NCAA Division I men's basketball Final Four. Georgetown Prep coach Dwayne Bryant said that ESPN has "scouted his school's 2,000-seat Hanley Center to see if it was suitable for broadcasting." Nike National Manager for High School Basketball Tony Dorado: "The event has the potential to someday determine a national champion." Oak Hill Academy coach Steve Smith, whose team would be eligible for the tournament, said, "You have a chance to play for a mythical national championship or game" (USA TODAY, 10/1).