Bishop Gorman, Mater Dei highlight City of Palms field

After a buzzer-beating finish to last year's championship game, the State Farm City of Palms Classic will be hard-pressed to top itself in 2011.

But with a tentative field that includes national powers Bishop Gorman (Las Vegas, Nev.), Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) and Miller Grove (Lithonia, Ga.), the 39th edition of the prestigious event is shaping up as the highlight of the high school basketball calendar once again.

The Classic will be held Dec. 16-21 at Bishop Verot High School in Fort Myers, Fla. St. Patrick (Elizabeth, N.J.) topped Milton (Ga.) 69-67 in the 2010 final before a packed house and a national television audience.

The defending champions – who spent five weeks as the nation's top-ranked team last season – won't be returning, but former head coach Kevin Boyle will be looking for a repeat of sorts with his new school, Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.).

Bishop Gorman, Mater Dei and Miller Grove should all be prominent in the preseason national rankings. Host school Bishop Verot, Gill St. Bernard's (Gladstone, N.J.), Grace Prep (Arlington, Texas), Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas), Riverside Academy (Reserve, La.), Salesian (Richmond, Calif.), St. Raymond Boys (Bronx, N.Y.), Taft (Cincinnati, Ohio), Thomasville (Ga.) and Trinity (Louisville, Ky.) are also included in the tournament field. Two teams will be added at a later date.

Grace Prep, Mater Dei, Miller Grove, Riverside Academy and Taft all won state titles in March.

In addition to the 16-team tournament field, City of Palms organizers renewed the Signature Series, a separate, four-team bracket featuring non-traditional schools. Friends' Central (Wynnewoode, Pa.), Tilton School (N.H.), Trent Internationale (Sugar Land, Texas) and Germany's Urspringschule will participate in the showcase.

As usual, the COP will feature a bevy of highly-touted prospects. Six of the Top 25 players in the Class of 2012 will be on display, including No. 2 overall Isaiah Austin of Grace Prep, No. 3 Shabazz Muhammad of Bishop Gorman, No. 6 Tony Parker of Miller Grove, No. 10 Amile Jefferson of Friends Central, No. 11 Xavier Johnson of Mater Dei and No. 21 Ricardo Gathers of Riverside Academy.

Jabari Bird of Salesian, Darryl Hicks of Trinity, Kasey Hill of Montverde Academy, Nerlens Noel and Goodluck Okonoboh of Tilton School, Julius Randle of Prestonwood Christian and Alabama commitment Jaren Sina of Gill St. Bernard headline the 2013 crop.