As the Washington Panthers prepare for the prominent Tournament of Champions (ToC), their sights are set on giving themselves an opportunity to play for the championship game in their tournament.
The Washington ToC is split into three different tournaments held in Washington at Tory Gymnasium. The three tournaments are the Washington Invitational, the National Classic, and the ToC Shootout Series.
Creating a mega-tournament like this takes a lot of hard work, time, and sometimes, luck.
The process for creating something like the Tournament of Champions begins about a year and four months before the tournament. So the 2018 tournament planning began in July.
“The next step is going out and trying to get a combination of a couple Top 10 kids in their classes, possible lottery picks, and then try to fill it out with good teams that have four or five guys that are looked at as Division I prospects,” Coach Brown said.
Where the luck comes into play for the Tournament is that teams tend to be much better than originally expected.
“We have something in the contract (with the teams) that says if the teams don’t have the players they said they had, then the Tournament can void the contract,” Brown said.
Where the Tournament of Champions has been lucky is the opposite of that scenario has happened. Teams end up getting high-profile transfers, rather than lying about the players they already have in order to get invited. (Talking about prep schools, since it is illegal for regular, public schools to recruit).
With such a huge tournament like this, the general public may think that the high school, and town in general, must be raking in cash due to the popularity of this event. However, the opposite is sometimes the case.
“There were many years where we were hoping that we were just able to pay the bills and be in the positive after,” Brown said.
As a basketball program, they put the money back into the tournament from what they get out of it the year before. If they get big name teams (i.e. Findlay Prep) it usually means that they had good margins and good sponsorship the year before.
The big name players are truly what attracts people to come watch.
“Two years ago I was watching the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament and there were 16 players in that who played in our event,” Brown added.
Last year was Spartanburg Day School star Zion Williamson, who stole the show with high-flying, dunk contest-like jams.
This year there are already 17 Division I commits, but the biggest names are Quentin Grimes (Kansas), Markese Jacobs (Kansas), and Tyler Herro (Kentucky). Overall there are around 30 kids getting Division I interest, and of those, 10 are considered NBA prospects at this time.
Washington has won the Washington Invitational four times, and is looking to be in position to win a fifth this year. However, winning the whole thing isn’t what Coach Brown enjoys the most of ToC, although it is definitely a goal.
“Without a doubt the thing I enjoy most about it is seeing my kids play against people they read about and get to watch on TV over the next few years. The best thing is to see my players and kids from the town see guys play and make memories, because that’s what high school sports are about,” Brown said.
If the video above does not play, here is the link: