High school basketball: Montverde Academy, Paul VI, Prolific Prep, Columbus headline Chipotle Nationals field

The 15th annual event takes place from April 4-6 in Brownsburg, Ind. with all games streaming on ESPN networks.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Jordan Divens

By Jordan Divens

Mar 13, 2024, 10:00am

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The matchups are set for Chipotle Nationals, which is scheduled for April 4-6 at Brownsburg high school near Indianapolis, Ind. The event will crown the national champion in the MaxPreps National Top 10 with each of the top five teams participating in the field. It could also have bearing on the national champion in the MaxPreps Top 25 as each of the top two teams in the poll are participating in the event as well.

The 15th annual event sees one first-time participant as MaxPreps Top 25 No. 1 Columbus (Miami, Fla.) joins returning national powerhouses Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), Paul VI (Chantilly, Va.), Prolific Prep (Napa, Calif.), Long Island Lutheran (Brookville, N.Y.), Link Academy (Branson, Mo.), IMG Academy (Bradenton, Fla.) and AZ Compass Prep (Chandler, Ariz.) in the eight-team field.

The three-day tournament is live streaming on ESPN family of networks (schedule below) and features 13 five-star prospects, including top five prospects Cooper Flagg of Montverde Academy, V.J. Edgecombe of Long Island Lutheran, A.J. Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes of Prolific Prep, Cameron Boozer of Columbus and Darius Acuff of IMG Academy.

Montverde Academy (31-0) makes its 13th appearance — breaking a tie with Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) for the most appearances in event history. The Eagles receive the top seed in the event and are favorites to capture their seventh championship at the event. The perennial powerhouse has a first round rematch with an AZ Compass Prep (27-5) unit they bested 58-46 on Dec. 9.

After running the table in Washington Catholic Athletic Conference play and capturing their third consecutive VISAA Division I state title, MaxPreps Top 25 No. 2 Paul VI makes its second appearance in the event as the No. 2 seed. The Panthers have a first-round rematch against an IMG Academy (20-8) squad they beat 71-70 in the City of Palms Classic quarterfinals on Dec. 21.

Prolific Prep (31-5) received a favorable three seed in their fourth appearance in the event. After the Crew lost in the first round of the tournament last year as a two seed to drop to 2-3 all-time at the event, the talent-rich roster has the pieces to break through for their first national title. The Crew have a rematch with a Link Academy (20-6) team they took down 77-76 back on Dec. 2.

Despite beating the three teams ranked directly ahead of them in the field, Columbus (27-4) received the No. 5 seed in the field after capturing their third consecutive FHSAA Class 7A state title. The Explorers have a first-round rematch with a four-seed Long Island Lutheran (21-4) team that they blew past 81-62 in January at the Spalding Hoophall Classic.