2024 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions

The bracket for the 39th Annual Bass Pro Tournament of Champions has been revealed.

Next weekend, Springfield will host the 39th Annual Bass Pro Tournament of Champions. The 2024 ToC will again be stacked with many of the nation’s top high school boys’ teams.

Touted as the country's most highly attended high school basketball tournament, Great Southern Bank Arena at Missouri State will be rocking again this year, especially when the local squads take the floor.

This year, Glendale High and Central High will represent Springfield's prep scene. Central is just coming off a championship win at the Blue and Gold Tournament, which took place on this same court.

The full tournament bracket is below:

Image Credit: Springfield Public Schools

Maxpreps.com currently lists Paul VI as the top high school team in the nation. Edmond North is listed as 6th, McEachern as 13th, and ST. John Bosco at 33. McEachern’s Ace Bailey is lauded as one of the top prospects in the nation.

As usual, The Basketball Movement will have some media coverage of the tournament. Look for that over on our Instagram and Twitter.

Stay tuned!

Tournament of Champions - Championship Saturday

The 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions enters the final day with a dunk contest and championship basketball on deck.

The 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions will begin its third and final day in just a few short hours. Starting with the seventh-place game at 2:30 pm (CST), this will be another full day of some of the best high school hoops the area will see live this year.

The seventh-place game will feature the Bartlett Panthers (TN) against the hometown Kickapoo Chiefs. Trae Oetting has been effective getting into the paint for Kickapoo, who will need improved efficiency from their big men to put together a complete game and get a win. Bartlett has not shot the ball well in the tournament and needs to turn things around quickly.

Next will be Staley (Kansas City, MO) vs. St. Rita (IL) in the fifth-place game at 4:00 pm. Staley is coming off a big win against fellow Missouri Class 6 Kickapoo. Senior guard Kyan Evans shot perfectly from the field for Staley in that one going 9-9, including five threes and seven assists.

St. Rita defeated Bartlett last night, led by juniors Nojus Indrusaitus and Morez Johnson, who both eclipsed the 20-point mark, adding 16 rebounds between them.

Next tonight will be the Slam Dunk Contest, which typically features some area high school dunkers as well as talent from the teams of the tournament, should they choose to participate. Keep an eye on The Basketball Movement Instagram for highlights!

Duking it out in the third-place game will be the Calvary Christian Eagles and the Christ the King Royals at 7:00 pm.

Christ the King put up an excellent fight last night, holding Link Academy to 37 percent shooting from the field. The Royals went 7-15 from deep, led by senior Devin Vanterpool. For Calvary Christian, a balanced attack has been the name of the game, though they only managed 41 points against Sunrise Christian. Look for guards Jaylen Curry and Carl Cherenfont to continue their strong play.

As many anticipated ahead of the tournament, the championship game (9:00 pm start) will feature Link Academy (Branson, MO) and Sunrise Christian (KS). Two of the top 10 teams in the country will clash in this one, promising a great game with plenty on the line.

Link Academy did not shoot well last night but was still able to win with their insane defensive athleticism and fluid offense. If they can find their shooting stroke, they will be difficult to stop.

Sunrise Christian has been keeping one of the tighter rotations in the tournament. They faltered last night shooting the three-ball, though that appeared to be one of their better weapons night one. Triples will be a significant factor in this one if they are to pull off a win. The 7’2 John Bol had a double-double last night for the Buffaloes and will need to continue to use all that length against Link Academy, who has plenty of size of their own.

Remember to follow along as The Basketball Movement covers the tourney! We also have day 1 game highlights on our YouTube channel if you missed any of the impressive action. See you at the games!

2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions

The 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions is finally here, and The Basketball Movement has your inside scoop.

One of the biggest high school tournaments in the country, the 2023 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions has tipped off. The action began last night, continues today, and concludes with the championship this Saturday, January 14th, at 9:00 pm.

A full tournament bracket can be found below:

Christ the King is a basketball program out of Queens, New York, that features 2025 guard Kiyan Anthony, son of NBA star Carmelo Anthony. Brandon Williams (2023) is a UCLA commit, Brandon Gardner (2023) is a St. Johns commit, and junior Dwayne Pierce holds offers from Mizzou, Florida State, and St. Johns.

Bartlett High is a relatively younger squad with an impressive junior class - Jack Shackelford, Christian Alston, and Rashad Williams all hold mid-major D1 offers, as does senior Javar Daniel. 2025 KJ Neville already holds multiple offers as well.

Link Academy (MO) is set to open the eyes of area basketball fans that have yet to see the squad in action. The team has too many impressive players to name, sporting commitments to UNC, Baylor, Memphis, LSU, Tennessee, and Oklahoma. So just come out and see for yourself as these players make their mark as one of the top prep programs in the nation.

St. Rita (IL) has another excellent crop of juniors with James Brown (not that James Brown, UNC commit), Morez Johnson (Illinois commit), and Nojust Indrusaitis (offers from Maryland, Marquette, Iowa State, and Ole Miss). In addition, senior Melvin Bell holds offers from Michigan, Mizzou, Iowa, and Illinois.

Sunrise Christian is another top-10 national program. Out of Bel-Aire, Kansas, they are coming off of a win against IMG Academy. With another lineup almost too impressive to break down here, it will feature Matas Buzelis (2023), who has committed to playing for the NBA G-League Ignite. Layden Blocker (Arkansas commit) and Scotty Middleton (Ohio State commit) are the other most notable seniors, while Mikel Brown Jr (2025) and 7’2 John Bol (2024) are players to watch as well.

Kickapoo is the lone Springfield, Missouri representative in the tournament this year. Sometimes those hometown fans can push the local guys enough to make some real noise, as we saw with Parkview last season. Kickapoo is led by seniors Brayden Shorter (Washburn commit) and Harrison Doennig (offer from Evangel).

Staley (Kansas City, MO) rounds out the Missouri teams and will lean on seniors Kayden Fish (Iowa State commit), Kyan Evans (Colorado State commit), and Cameron Manyawu (offers from Oral Roberts, Indiana State, Valpo, and more).

Calvary Christian Academy (FL) was a pre-season top-25 team nationally that will get a great chance here to prove itself. Memphis commit Carl Cherenfant (2023) is their top player. In addition, point guard Jaylen Curry (2023) holds offers from several big programs, and 6’10 junior Ethan Lathan is undoubtedly a player to watch.

Spotlight: Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach

From the Bass Pro Tournament of Champions to playing meaningful minutes for an undefeated Duke squad, Keels and Roach are on the come-up.

Once a year, Southwest Missouri hosts the most heavily-attended high school basketball tournament in the country. The Bass Pro Tournament of Champions hosts some of the top squads from around the nation as well as local standouts. The Basketball Movement is always honored to cover the event, which also means getting to watch and assess the bright young stars.

A few standouts from Paul VI (Va.), Trevor Keels and Jeremy Roach have been able to translate their time in high school to playing big-time minutes for one of the most prominent D1 programs in the nation.

At Duke, Roach (6’2 sophomore guard) and Keels (6’5 freshman guard) are getting to experience legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski in what he has announced to be his final season. The young players are undoubtedly winning the coach’s favor, with strong play through Duke’s first four games.

Keels has games of 10, 18, and most impressively, 25 points against rival Kentucky. Roach now plenty removed from an ACL injury, has games with 10, 14, and 14 while chipping in with assists and excellent rebounding for his size.

Duke is a perennial contender and is looking to have a bounce-back season after uncharacteristically missing the Big Dance last season.

Jeremy Roach and Trevor Keels are looking like big pieces of the puzzle for Duke, and we are excited to see what these young men can do.

For more spotlights, NCAA news, and more, keep it locked to The Basketball Movement.

2020 Tournament of Champions: Day one recap

Day one of the 2020 Bass Pro Tournament of Champions featured good games and impressive individual performances.

With night one in the books, fans have a good idea going forward of what these big-time hoopers are capable of. For the most part, players we had highlighted previously stood out as expected, but witnessed the potential of others as well.

In the opening game, Vashon beat down Christ the King in surprising fashion 69-33. Ryan Myers led CtK with 12 and struggled a bit with his shot. For Vashon, Phillip Russell stood out, scoring 20 with 6 of 9 shooting from deep. Cam’Ron Fletcher was as-advertised, flashing explosiveness at the rim and finishing with a 21 point, 13 rebound double-double.

The second game of the night was much closer throughout, but a big run to finish things out made the score appear lopsided. Oak Hill Academy, currently ranked number three in the nation, defeated the hometown Kickapoo Chiefs 78-63.

Oak Hill had a balanced attack, with efficient nights from Ezewiro, Sibley, Robinson, and Maddox. Cam Thomas was the high man with 26 points. For Kickapoo, Anton Brookshire was scoring at will, hitting 7 of 12 from deep and finishing with 33 points and seven boards.

The third game was entertaining if not always competitive. Paul VI downed Greenwood 80-54 behind 25 points from Duke commit, Jeremy Roach. Steals were the name of the game for Paul VI, as they amassed 19 on the night. Despite some timely long balls by Tommy Pinegar and nifty ball-handling by Grant Harper, it was the Aminu Mohammed show for Greenwood as usual. Mohammed had 31 points and 16 boards, but 11 turnovers to go with it.

Finally, Booker T Washington vs. Greensboro Day provided a close match start-to-finish. Both teams shot around 35 percent and bricked plenty of threes. Still, it was down to the wire with Booker T Washington finishing on top 54-50.

Kansas commit, Bryce Thompson was the driving force for Booker T Washington, scoring 31 big points to go with 10 boards. His teammate and Oklahoma commit, Trey Phipps shot just 1-13 on the night, so we are expecting a bounce-back performance this evening. Greensboro Day is was without Virginia signee, Carson McCorkle, who was recently injured. They leaned on Cam Hayes (14) and freshman Jaydon Young (15) to do the scoring in this one.

Tonight’s (Friday, Jan 17th) action will surely be thrilling once again and we can’t wait to break down the happenings for you.

4:30 Kickapoo vs. Christ the King

6:00 Greenwood vs. Greensboro Day

8:00 Vashon vs. Oak Hill

9:30 Paul VI vs. Booker T Washington

Remember to follow the action on our Twitter and see it first by following The Basketball Movement’s Founder, former pro, Robert Yanders on Instagram.