High school basketball: City of Palms Classic preview, bracket, teams and players to watch

Loaded 16-team Classic Bracket features seven of top 10 teams in MaxPreps Top 25.

HIGHLIGHTS: Jordan Smith powers Paul VI to win against St. John Bosco at 2025 Hoophall Classic 9,063 views 1:53

The City of Palms Classic tips off Thursday, Dec. 18 and runs through Tuesday, Dec. 23 at the Suncoast Credit Union Arena on the campus of Florida SouthWestern State College in Fort Myers.

The 52nd annual event features 14 of the top 30 teams in the country and showcases 27 top 50 prospects.

The 16-team Classic Bracket features 10 teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25, including each of the top five teams, as well as National Top 10 powerhouse Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.).

CITY OF PALMS: 16-team Classic Bracket

Top 20 senior prospect Christian Collins is averaging 25.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game for unbeaten St. John Bosco. (PHOTO: Edward McClure)

No. 1 Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.), No. 2 Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), No. 3 Petersburg (Va.), No. 4 Columbus (Miami, Fla.), No. 7 Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), No. 8 St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), No. 10 Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), No. 14 Bartlett (Tenn.), No. 16 The Villages Charter (The Villages, Fla.) and No. 18 Owasso (Okla.) represent the MaxPreps Top 25.

Teams ranked within the top 30 nationally in the 16-team field include No. 27 Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.), No. 30 Principia (St. Louis, Mo.) and No. 32 Imhotep Charter (Philadelphia, Pa.). Garfield Heights (Ohio) and Sarasota (Fla.) are the only unranked teams in the main bracket.

The four-team Sunshine Series is composed of top 100 programs Notre Dame (West Haven, Conn.) and St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) along with Olympia (Orlando, Fla.) and Victory Christian Academy (Lakeland, Fla.).

In addition, the four-team Signature Series features CIA-Bella Vista (Phoenix, Ariz.), Gillion Academy (Springfield, Va.), Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) and Prolific Prep (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.).

Along with highly-regarded teams, the individual talent is also overwhelming as 15 top 25 prospects across the classes of 2026 through 2028 are competing in the event. Read on for a full list of the top 50 prospects competing in Fort Myers.

See the official site for the full schedule.

Players to watch

2026

Bruce Branch, Prolific Prep (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (No. 2 according to On3 Industry)

Caleb Holt, Prolific Prep (No. 3)

Dylan Mingo, Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.) (No. 4)

Jordan Smith, Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) (No. 7)

Caleb Gaskins, Columbus (Miami, Fla.) (No. 11, Miami signee)

Christian Collins, St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.) (No. 14)

Qayden Samuels, Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.) (No. 23)

Adonis Ratliff, Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.) (No. 24, USC signee)

Colben Landrew, Wheeler (Marietta, Ga.) (No. 25, Connecticut signee)