History

A crowd of 9,337 fans attended the Hometown Hoops Classic at  the Apollo of Temple (now Liacouras Center) in first-ever Play by Play Classics event. In game one of the doubleheader, Chester’s Jameer Nelson put on a show with 23 points and 8 assists and a highlight dunk in a win over Pennsbury. In the nightcap, the late, great Eddie Griffin scored 29 points and added 12 rebounds for Roman Catholic in a win over Camden, whose star Dajuan Wagner played with a broken shooting hand. Wagner's teammate and best friend Arthur Barclay had 22 points and 21 rebounds. (Photo of Eddie Griffin)

Dajuan Wagner scored 50 points in a win over Memphis Hamilton at the Memphis.com Play By Play Classic at The Pyramid in Memphis, TN. Wagner was a Memphis signee and became a lottery pick after one year with the Tigers. He scored 30 in game two of the event. More than 9,000 people came to see Camden play two Memphis schools in the NBA arena. (Photo of Dajuan Wagner)

Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley and nationally-ranked St. Anthony knocked off Dajuan Wagner’s Camden team by 12 points. It was Camden's first loss after 24 straight wins. More than 6,000 fans attended the event at the Sovereign Bank Arena. Camden won another state title that year but couldn’t duplicate the school’s only New Jersey Tournament of Champions title it won in 2001. (Photo of Bob Hurley)

Lebron James won the first of four PBP Classics MVP awards (in all four of his team’s PBP events during the 2002-2003 season) at a sold out Palestra in front of 9,000-plus frenzied fans. St. Vincent-St. Mary toppled Strawberry Mansion by more than 40 points. At one point the Irish were leading 67-25 in a game that was also televised by Comcast Network in the Philadelphia area. Mansion’s Maureece Rice, the city’s all-time high school scorer was held scoreless for three quarters before scoring 13 in the final stanza. With the game out of reach, James called over to Rice and the two played “one-on-one” for about three minutes during the actual game, bringing the crowd to its feet on every possession. The next day, the Eagles invited Lebron and his teammates for lunch and a visit to the locker room to meet the team. (Photo of LeBron James and Maureece Rice via the Philadelphia Inquirer)

The top-rated and undefeated Irish of St. Vincent-St. Mary needed overtime and two misses from 90 percent foul shooter Drew Lavender to beat Brookhaven and keep its undefeated season alive and finish number one in the country. This game, the Ohio Play By Play Classic, was played before 16,885 people at Ohio State University’s Schottenstein Center. (Photo of LeBron James)

Lebron James played arguably his greatest high school game, collecting 40 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists in a remarkable effort and St. Vincent-St. Mary win over R.J. Reynolds (NC) at the North Carolina Play By Play Classic. The event set an attendance record for North Carolina high school basketball with 16,672 fans attending the game on Martin Luther King Day at the Greensboro Coliseum. (Photo of LeBron James)

Despite 16 inches of snow and ice surrounding the area, the main event at the Dayton Play By Play Classic — St. Vincent-St. Mary versus Kettering Alter — took place before more than 11,000 people at the University of Dayton Arena who braved the record cold. James won his fourth Classics MVP, but upon receiving the award, took the microphone and gave the award to teammate Corey Jones, saying, “he played better than me."  (Photo of LeBron James) 

In a game that may have earned him a scholarship to Villanova, local Philly star Kyle Lowry outscored New York sensation Sebastian Telfair 22-0 in a win over Lincoln, NY as part of a seven-game Play By Play Classic showcase at the Palestra. (Photo of Kyle Lowry)

Kyle Lowry and his Cardinal Dougherty teammates knocked off a Penn Charter squad led by future NBAers Sean Singletary, Rob Kurz and potential NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Matt Ryan. More than 500 people were locked out of sold-out Arcadia University. (Photo of Kyle Lowry and Sean Singletary)

Chester and Lower Merion, who have combined for 14 Pennsylvania State titles, played to a one-point game before a raucous sold-out crowd at the Pete and Jameer Nelson Classic at Widener University. With .1 seconds on the clock and Lower Merion’s Pete Lucas at the line with a chance to win the game, Chester fans ran behind the basket to distract Lucas, waving their jackets behind the backboard. Lucas missed to preserve a Chester victory. Later in the season, Lower Merion beat Chester en route to its sixth state title. (Photo of Darrin Govens) 

The best of three games featured cult heroes and future NBA players O.J. Mayo and Bill Walker and their Cincinnati-based North College Hill team against Canton McKinley. The contest went to overtime with North College Hill center Keenan Ellis making a 12-footer at the buzzer for the win. More than 9,000 people attended the event at Ohio State’s Schottenstein Center. North College Hill lost only one game and won three state titles during the tenure of Mayo and Walker. (Photo of OJ Mayo)

Oak Hill Academy beat Episcopal Academy, led by future NBAers Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson, in a slow scoring affair that was aided by a five-minute holding of the ball by Oak Hill. Oak Hill coach Steve Smith used the stall tactic to buy time for NBA-bound stars Ty Lawson, Nolan Smith, and Michael Beasley, who were in foul trouble. More than 6,000 people attended at the Palestra. Oak Hill finished the season 40-1. A year prior in PBP Classics action, another Oak Hill squad led by Rajon Rondo, Kevin Durant, and Josh Smith lost to Gwinnett (GA) and their star Lou Williams. (Photo of Wayne Ellington and Gerald Henderson)

A sold out crowd of 17,505 fans at U.S. Bank Arena saw North College Hill lose its only game to Oak Hill Academy in the Cincinnati Play By Play Classic. OJ Mayo had 42 points and teammate Bill Walker had 24, but the Warriors’ depth was on display with six players, including future NBAers Ty Lawson and Michael Beasley, in double figures. (Photo of Bill Walker via Sports Illustrated) 

A girls game stole the show at a boys event. Future WNBA MVP Elena Delle Donne and Ursuline Academy (DE) squared off against Germantown Academy’s Maggie Lucas and Caroline Doty. Delle Donne got a standing ovation from the crowd of 3,500 at Villanova University as she walked to her bench for the last time in a ten-point Ursuline victory. (Photo of Elena Delle Donne)

Future Ohio State Buckeye and NBA star Jared Sullinger outplayed future college teammate Duane Thomas of Bishop Leurs (IN) to win in front of 5,000 plus at OSU’s Schottenstein Center at the Ohio Play By Play Classic. (Photo of Duane Thomas and Jared Sullinger with PBP Classics Founder Jeremy Treatman)

In a game televised live by ESPN, Chester, led by future NBAer Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, stunned Catholic League power Neumann-Goretti 58-41 at Neumann University. (Photo of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson)

The Girls Play By Play Classic —  the biggest one-day girls showcase in the country — saw Mt. St. Joseph’s (PA) beat Spring-Ford in four overtimes at Jefferson University. Fans from the other courts came to watch and packed the stands for this thrilling matchup.

The Cleveland Play By Play Classic featured Jackson versus Garfield Heights and Medina with Michigan signee Jon Teske playing St. Edward in a sold-out event at Baldwin Wallace University. (Photo of Jon Teske)