By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Four nationally known prep school boys basketball programs will play local high school teams in the Griffin Elite Prep School Classic on Dec. 7 at Northern Kentucky University’s BB&T Arena.
Sponsored by St. Elizabeth Healthcare and Griffin Elite Sports & Wellness, the four-game event will feature players recruited by some of the top NCAA Division I teams, including the Kentucky Wildcats, Cincinnati Bearcats and Xavier Musketeers.
One local high school coach said, “My players would love to play against some future (NBA) lottery picks.”
The first two games of the classic will be Oak Hill Academy of Virginia vs. Covington Catholic at noon and Legacy Charter of South Carolina vs. Cincinnati Oak Hills at 2:15 p.m.
The final two games will be Huntington Prep of West Virginia vs. Cincinnati Elder at 4:30 p.m. and La Lumiere of Indiana vs. Cooper at 6:45 p.m.
In the final USA Today Super 25 national rankings last season, La Lumiere was No. 2 and Oak Hill Academy was No. 7. La Lumiere won 31 straight games before losing to IMG Academy of Florida in the championship final of the Geico High School Nationals in April.
CovCath has five of the top eight players returning from last season’s 9th Region championship team that posted a 27-8 record. The Colonels will also be adding 7-foot senior transfer student Noah Hupman to the roster. Cooper made it to the regional semifinals with five seniors in the starting lineup and finished with a 25-6 record last season.
Ticket information for the classic will be released in the near future. Net proceeds from the four-game event will go to the Ryan Custer Foundation.
Custer played basketball at Elder High School and received a scholarship to Wright State University. After completing his freshman year in college, however, he shattered his C5 vertebrae in an accident and is paralyzed with limited mobility.
Custer is now learning to drive in a specially equipped vehicle. His family is raising money to finance a vehicle of his own.
