News and Press Room
City of Palms gets even better
Signature Series gives tourney flexibility
BY CARL BLEICH • cbleich@news-press.com • July 10, 2010
As if the City of Palms Classic hasn't had enough talented teams in years past, there will be even more at Bishop Verot this season.
The 38th Annual State Farm City of Palms Classic 16-team main tournament is complete as Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick and Norfolk (Va.) Christian have taken the final two spots.
But the 2010 event will mark the first time that a separate tournament within the Classic for non-traditional and non-public schools will be played.
The four-team "Signature Series" will be played from Dec. 20-22 and is highlighted by High Point (N.C.) Westchester Country Day and 6-foot-9 Quincy Miller, the nation's No. 2 ranked senior, according to ScoutHoops.
The series was created to bring more talent in and to avoid situations like Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep fell into last year.
Findlay Prep went 4-0 in the City of Palms but was placed into the consolation bracket after its first victory because some schools couldn't play them because of state association guidelines.
Some state athletic associations, such as the ones in Georgia and California, will not allow their member schools to schedule games against teams that do not belong to their own state's association.
"We've ran into some problems over the last few years with teams running into sanctioning issues," Classic Basketball Inc. vice president Donnie Wilkie said. "I think if we are going to lay claim to being the top tournament in the country we need to be able to host all different types of teams."
The creation of the Signature Series ensures that all 16 teams in this year's main bracket will be eligible to play any other team in the bracket and win the title.
It also will allow for teams from overseas to participate.
Urspringschule from Ulm, Germany, will become the first European team to compete in the classic when they play in the Signature Series in December.
The last team from outside of the United States to participate was NBA All-Star Jamaal Magloire's Toronto Eastern Commerce squad in 1996.
"We have not been able to put them in the tournament in years past," Wilkie said of Urspringschule. "When it became apparent that we could (create a new bracket), I definitely wanted to give them the invite."
