Marcus Johnson of Garfield Heights stole the show last year as a sophomore with 40 points in a double-overtime victory. Johnson, who has already committed to Ohio State, will be back at Kettering Fairmont’s Trent Arena in January to play against Wayne for the second time in three years.
Wayne returns four starters from a district finalist. The teams met two years ago when Johnson was a freshman and Garfield won by four. Senior guard Myles “Boots” Perkins didn’t get to play in that game.
“I’m excited,” Perkins said at Tuesday’s annual press conference to announce the field. “Obviously, Marcus Johnson’s good, but I feel like we’re good too. So I’m excited to compete. I ain’t scared of nobody.”
Wayne and Garfield play the 1:15 p.m. game on Saturday of the four-day event that runs January 17-20, finishing on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. More than 100 teams asked to be in the field, but only 34 will be there to play 18 games.
Entering its 22nd year at Trent Arena, the nationally recognized event has featured 101 future NBA players, including No. 1 picks Anthony Davis, Anthony Bennett, Andrew Wiggins and DeAndre Ayton. This year’s field so far includes 10 5-stars and 33 4-stars.
“I cannot remember a field where we had more talent than this year,” said Eric Horstman, founder and president. “We really went above and beyond.”
The local flavor will continue with teams who have been regulars and new ones. Wayne is playing at Flyin’ for the 19th consecutive year.
“It’s such an honor to bring our young men to this press conference every year and to be a part of the event, for them to be seen, and for the Dayton area kids to be seen,” Wayne head coach Nate Martindale said.
In addition to Perkins, Wayne returns starters Mykell Shackleford, Isaiah Thompson and Jay’Sean Price. The Warriors will also have point guard Tay Chivers. He is considered one of the top 10 freshmen in Ohio.
Dunbar returns with three starters and some new faces. Moses Sanford, Lester Brown and Lamontre Tripp played important minutes for the Wolverines last year. New are freshman Jay’mal Whitfield and 6-foot-4 junior Justice Taylor. He transferred from Carlisle where he averaged 9.7 points and 9.1 rebounds last year.
“It’s really, really big because we’re the only city league team,” said Dunbar coach Tony Dixon, who also played in the event. “When we’re in this event we’re putting the whole city on our back and want to go out there and compete and put on a good show.”
Dunbar meets Lebanon in the 11:30 a.m. game on Saturday. Lebanon lost eight starters and 2026 five-star recruit Anthony Thompson, who will be at Flyin’ with Western Reserve Academy. But the Warriors have Jashawn Coffey, a 6-foot guard who can play above the rim and is one of the top freshmen in Ohio.
“He’ll probably be our main ball handler, but if we can give him some opportunities to catch the ball from the wing and give him some looks from the wing we’ll do that,” Lebanon coach Nate Chivington said.
When Lebanon committed to play for only the second time, the Warriors still had Thompson. But despite the losses, Chivington expects his team to compete well again this season.
“We have a lot of new guys, but we think that we’re reloaded and ready to go,” he said.
Head coach Zach Denny graduated from Valley View in 2013 and always wanted to play in the event. He’s bringing a young team, led by sophomores Brody Denny (22.4 points per game last year) and Ty Fritz (13.6 points, 10.5 rebounds), to the event for the first time. Denny wants to expose his young team to tournament-like conditions.
“Showing them and letting them even see the games that we aren’t playing in, top level basketball,” he said. “And how they compete, how they communicate, put them in front of a situation and an audience they may not be comfortable with, they might be nervous with, let them play through the butterflies, get used to a big moment and grow.”
Alter leads the list of last year’s four state champions in the field. The Knights, led by North Carolina State commit R.J. Greer, will play Louisville from northeast Ohio. Richmond Heights and junior T.J. Crumble, the No. 3 player in his class in Ohio behind Thompson and Johnson, plays Dynamic Prep of Texas on opening night. Division I champion Cleveland St. Ignatius faces Cincinnati Moeller and Lutheran East faces Huntington Prep from West Virginia.
In all, 16 of the top 20 teams in Ohio regardless of division are invited: Richmond Heights, Olentangy Orange, St. Ignatius, Reynoldsburg, Toledo Whitmer, Moeller, Lima Senior, Louisville, Brunswick, Garfield Heights, Delaware Hayes, Centerville, Alter, Lakota West, Pickerington North and Lutheran East.
Also, Beavercreek will face Pickerington North and Fairmont will face Lakota West in the final two games on Monday.
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