Lance Will Be In The Building

This could be the most bonkers tournament of the year. Forget all those summer AAU tourneys that bring top prospects together – they’re inevitably short a bunch of names because of sneaker alliances.

The 2009 Spalding Hoophall Classic will be played over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (January 16-19) at Springfield College’s Blake Arena, and it will be stacked with talent. No matter whether you tune into high school hoops to check out great team basketball or future NBA standouts, you’ll get both here.

Powerhouse Mater Dei (Santa Ana, Calif.) will be on hand, trying to prove their national No. 2 ranking. They’ll rely on the Wear brothers (Travis and David) to carry them against some stiff competition. Here are the other squads that will be at Springfield:

* #4 St. Benedict’s (Newark, N.J.) and 6-8 F Tristan Thompson
* #5 Oak Hill (Mouth of Wilson, Va.) and 6-8 C Keith “Tiny” Gallon
* #8 Lincoln (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and 6-5 G Lance Stephenson
* #12 LeFlore (Mobile, Ala.) and 6-10 F DeMarcus Cousins
* #13 DeMatha (Washington, D.C.) and 6-1 G Josh Selby
* #16 South Atlanta (Atlanta, Ga.) and 6-10 C Derrick Favors
* #20 St. Anthony’s (Jersey City, N.J.) and 6-5 G Dominic Cheek
* #22 Whitney Young (Chicago, Ill.) and 6-2 G Chris Colvin
* #24 Putnam City (Oklahoma City, Okla.) and 6-6 G Xavier Henry
* #32 Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.) and 6-4 G James Bell
* #40 Neumann-Goretti (Philadelphia, Pa.) and 6-1 G Tony Chenault
* #48 Gonzaga (Washington, D.C.) and 6-2 G Tyler Thornton
* American Heritage (Plantation, Fla.) and 6-2 G Kenny Boynton
* Brewster Academy (Wolfeboro, N.H.) and 6-8 F Thomas Robinson
* Hargrave Military Academy (Chatham, Va.) and 6-5 G Maurice Creek
* Mount Vernon (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and 6-3 G Sherrod Wright
* The Patterson School (Patterson, N.C.) and 6-8 C Rashanti Harris
* The Tilton School (Tilton, N.H.) and 6-7 F Jamal Coombs-McDaniel