City of Palms Classic basketball preview

The 39th annual State Farm City of Palms Classic – high school basketball's premier tournament – begins Friday in Fort Myers, Fla., bringing together seven nationally ranked teams and 20 Top 100 prospects.

MaxPreps will be on hand at Bishop Verot High School, providing nightly recaps and photography.

STORYLINES TO WATCH

Back-to-back for Boyle?
Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) head coach Kevin Boyle will be looking for a repeat of sorts. He guided St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) to the tournament title last December, beating Milton (Ga.) in dramatic fashion in the final. Boyle was named the new coach at Montverde in April.

Can Mater Dei return to winner's circle?
Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) – ranked No. 2 nationally – captured COP titles in 2006 and 2008. A year ago the Monarchs made a surprising run to the semifinals, then blasted Austin Rivers and Winter Park (Fla.) on the final night to take third place. Most of the pieces are back from that team.

Bishop Gorman takes another swing
Ultra-talented Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas) should benefit greatly from last year's experience at the Classic. The Gaels went 2-2 in 2010, getting victimized by a heroic performance from Jacoby Brissett of Dwyer (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) in the quarterfinals. Gorman has the best player in the field in Shabazz Muhammad, ranked No. 1 in the MaxPreps Class of 2012 Top 100. As many accolades as Muhammad has piled up in his high school career, leading Gorman to the COP title would be near the top of list.

How good is Grace Prep?
Grace Prep (Arlington, Texas) answered that question to some extent over the weekend by playing Academy Top 10 No. 2 Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) tough at an event in Maryland. The Lions are very good. Putting it all together in four games over five days against national-caliber opponents could vault Grace Prep into the national championship conversation.

Most likely to surprise
Watch out for Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas). The Lions are 5-0 and have enough size to give any team in the field fits. They look to have a manageable opponent in the first round to set up a potential quarterfinal showdown with Bishop Gorman. Junior power forward Julius Randle is the best non-senior in the field.

FAVORITES

Bishop Gorman: Ranked No. 5 in this week's MaxPreps Xcellent 25 National Boys Basketball rankings presented by the Army National Guard, perhaps the only knock on the Gaels coming in is that with only two tune-up games, they might not be hitting their stride quite yet.

Mater Dei: The Monarchs will have a tough road to the final with a potential matchup against Grace Prep in the quarters. Then again, it's the City of Palms Classic – everybody has a tough road to the final.

Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.): The No. 3 Wolverines are the only team in the field with a first-round bye and that worked out well for St. Patrick last year. Miller Grove takes on Oak Hill Academy in an ESPN-televised affair prior to heading to Fort Myers.

Montverde Academy: Ranked No. 6 in the MaxPreps Academy Top 10, the Eagles are absolutely loaded, with perhaps a dozen players who will eventually play Division I basketball. They better not sleep on opening-round opponent Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), however.

CONTENDERS

Grace Prep: It might be a slap in the face to not list Grace Prep among the favorites, but the bracket doesn't set up particularly well for the Lone Star State club. Seven-footer Isaiah Austin (Baylor), Jelon Hornbeak (Oklahoma), super soph Emmanuel Mudiay and Jordan Mickey will all play high-major college basketball.

Prestonwood Christian: Randle is an absolute beast and is joined by a big supporting cast that includes Kansas signee Zach Peters (6-9, 235), Austin Rettig (6-5, 215) and highly touted freshman Mickey Mitchell (6-7, 210).

Riverside Academy (Reserve, La.): The Rebels were dealt a blow when senior guard Louis Dabney was declared gone for the season following an injury. Riverside started the season ranked in the Xcellent 25, but was knocked off by Southwind (Memphis, Tenn.) in the semifinals of a tournament in Arkansas. Head coach Tim Byrd's squad also played in last year's City of Palms Classic, an advantage that shouldn't be overlooked.

Salesian: The Bay Area power is out to a 6-0 start with two tournament titles despite missing key players, including star junior Jabari Bird. If head coach Bill Mellis has his full cast in Fort Myers, Salesian could be dangerous.

Taft (Cincinnati): Speaking of dangerous. Taft gained national attention in last year's Ohio Division III state title game by thrashing Cleveland Central Catholic 95-52 – the largest margin ever in a Buckeye State championship contest. The Senators haven't slowed down this season, posting 91.6 points per game winning each of their three outings by 28 points or more. Taft is led by Ohio State football commitment Adolphus "Diesel" Washington.

LONGSHOTS

Bishop Verot (Fort Myers, Fla.); Blanche Ely (Pompano Beach, Fla.); Constitution (Philadelphia); Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.); Lake Wales (Fla.); St. Raymond Boys (Bronx, N.Y.); Trinity (Louisville, Ky.)

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Class of 2012 Top 100 prospects
No. 1 Shabazz Muhammad, Bishop Gorman
No. 4 Isaiah Austin, Grace Prep – Baylor
No. 12 Amile Jefferson, Friends' Central (Wynnewoode, Pa.) *
No. 17 Tony Parker, Miller Grove
No. 35 Katin Reinhardt, Mater Dei – UNLV
No. 40 Ricardo Gathers, Riverside Academy
No. 58 Savon Goodman, Constitution
No. 64 Xavier Johnson, Mater Dei – Colorado
No. 82 Rosco Allen, Bishop Gorman – Stanford
No. 84 Michael Frazier, Montverde Academy – Florida

Class of 2013 Top 100 prospects
No. 2 Julius Randle, Prestonwood Christian
No. 3 Nerlens Noel, Tilton School (N.H.) *
No. 10 Kasey Hill, Montverde Academy
No. 20 Jabari Bird, Salesian
No. 41 Jaren Sina, Gill St. Bernard's – Alabama
No. 49 Goodluck Okonoboh, Tilton School *

Class of 2014 Top 100 prospects
No. 8 Wayne Selden, Tilton School *
No. 9 Emmanuel Mudiay, Grace Prep
No. 19 Stanley Johnson, Mater Dei
No. 20 DeAngelo Russell, Montverde Academy

* Participating in Signature Series

City of Palms links

Official site / Bracket (PDF) / Schedule