The St. James NIBC Invitational tips off Friday with 10 MaxPreps Top 25 slated to take the floor at The
St. James Sports, Wellness and Entertainment Complex in Springfield, Va., from Jan. 8-18. The star-studded high school basketball showcase features the top five teams in the nation, including No. 1
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), No. 2
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.), No. 3
Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.), No. 4
Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.) and No. 5
DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.).
In anticipation of the event, here are five things to watch for as the action unfolds in Virginia as well as the most up-to-date schedule.
Caleb Houstan, Montverde Academy
Photo by: Annette Wilkerson
The Eagles are riding a 33-game win streak and have been ranked No. 1 team since last season's preseason MaxPreps Top 25. The defending national champions take on the toughest schedule of any team at the event, including notable showdowns against No. 2 IMG Academy, No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy, No. 9 Legacy Early College, No. 10 La Lumiere, No. 11 Wasatch Academy, No. 13 Oak Hill Academy and No. 15 AZ Compass Prep.
MaxPreps Top 25 showdowns
Along with No. 1 Montverde Academy's aforementioned six games against ranked opponents, other notable MaxPreps Top 25 showdowns include No. 2 IMG Academy vs. No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy, No. 10 La Lumiere vs. No. 11 Wasatch Academy, No. 9 Legacy Early College vs. No. 13 Oak Hill Academy, No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy vs. No. 9 Legacy Early College, No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy vs. No. 10 La Lumiere among others. In all, 18 meetings between teams ranked in the MaxPreps Top 25 are on the schedule.
Players matchups
Some of the nation's top prospects should cross paths in Virginia. The potential matchup with the most juice might be Sunrise Christian Academy guard
Kennedy Chandler (No. 2-ranked senior point guard) meeting IMG Academy guard
Jaden Bradley (No. 2-ranked junior point guard) on Monday afternoon. Both guards can fill up the stat sheet. Another intriguing matchup is between bigs as No. 2-ranked junior
Jalen Duren of Montverde Academy and No. 6-ranked power forward in the senior class
Moussa Diabate of IMG Academy. The much-anticipated No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown between Montverde Academy and IMG Academy may come down to who wins the battle on the boards.
ESPN games
The ESPN family of networks will air eight games on Sunday, Jan. 17 and Monday, Jan. 18. Three games will air on ESPN3 on Sunday before shifting over to ESPN for No. 1 Montverde Academy vs. No. 2 IMG Academy. Four games air on ESPNU Monday, including three matchups between ranked opponents as No. 9 Legacy Early College takes on No. 10 La Lumiere, No. 2 IMG Academy faces No. 3 Sunrise Christian Academy and top-ranked Montverde Academy faces No. 11 Wasatch Academy. As for Montverde and IMG, this will be the fourth meeting between the powerhouse programs in the past two seasons. Montverde went 3-0 against IMG in 2019-20 as both teams enter the event unbeaten. All games will also be live streamed
here.
Top 100 prospects
The talent-rich field features 36 juniors and seniors ranked in the top 100 of their respective classes according to 247Sports. Five-star prospects participating in the event include Michigan signee
Caleb Houstan, Jalen Duren and
Dariq Whitehead of Montverde Academy, Tennessee signee Kennedy Chandler and Baylor signee
Kendall Brown of Sunrise Christian Academy,
Trevor Keels of Paul VI, Nebraska signee
Bryce McGowens of Legacy Early College, Michigan signee Moussa Diabate, Jaden Bradley and
Jarace Walker of IMG Academy,
Keyonte George of iSchool and
M.J. Rice of Oak Hill Academy.
Complete schedule
Friday, Jan. 8
3:30 p.m. –
Bishop Walsh (Cumberland, Md.) vs.
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.)5:15 p.m. –
Sunrise Christian Academy (Bel Aire, Kan.) vs.
Hamilton Heights Christian (Tenn.)7 p.m. –
Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) vs.
Legacy Early College (S.C.)Saturday, Jan. 91:45 p.m. – La Lumiere vs. Bishop Walsh
3:30 p.m. – Legacy Early College vs. Hamilton Heights Christian Academy
5:15 p.m. – Wasatch Academy vs. Oak Hill Academy
7 p.m. – Montverde Academy vs. Sunrise Christian Academy
Sunday, Jan. 10Noon – Bishop Walsh vs. Wasatch Academy
1:45 p.m. – Hamilton Heights Christian Academy vs. Oak Hill Academy
3:30 p.m. – La Lumiere vs. Montverde Academy
5:15 p.m. – Sunrise Christian Academy vs. Legacy Early College
Tuesday, Jan. 121:45 p.m. – Wasatch Academy vs. Sunrise Christian Academy
3:30 p.m. – Oak Hill Academy vs. Bishop Walsh
5:15 p.m. – Montverde Academy vs. Legacy Early College
7 p.m. – Hamilton Heights Christian Academy vs. La Lumiere
Friday, Jan. 151:45 p.m. – Bishop Walsh vs. Hamilton Heights Christian Academy
3:30 p.m. – Legacy Early College vs. Wasatch Academy
5:15 p.m. – La Lumiere vs. Sunrise Christian Academy
7 p.m. – Oak Hill Academy vs. Montverde Academy
8:45 p.m. –
IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) vs.
Houston (Germantown, Tenn.)Saturday, Jan. 1612:30 p.m. – Hamilton Heights Christian Academy vs. Wasatch Academy
4 p.m. –
iSchool (Lewisville, Texas) vs.
St. Frances Academy (Baltimore, Md.)5:15 p.m. – Montverde Academy vs.
AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.)7 p.m. –
Marshall (Richmond, Va.) vs.
DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.)Sunday, Jan. 1711 a.m. – St. Frances Academy vs. Marshall
1:30 p.m. – Legacy Early College vs. Bishop Walsh, ESPN3
3:30 p.m. – La Lumiere vs. Oak Hill Academy, ESPN3
5:30 p.m. – AZ Compass Prep vs. Sunrise Christian Academy, ESPN3
7:30 p.m. – Montverde Academy vs. IMG Academy, ESPN
Monday, Jan. 189 a.m. – DeMatha vs. St. Frances Academy
11 a.m. – La Lumiere School vs. Legacy Early College, ESPNU
1 p.m. – Oak Hill Academy vs. iSchool of Lewisville, ESPNU
3 p.m. –Sunrise Christian Academy vs. IMG Academy, ESPNU
5 p.m. – Wasatch Academy vs. Montverde Academy, ESPNU
6:45 p.m. – Paul VI vs. TBD
-Live Stream to all games also available
here
