The high school season tips off strong at Holy Innocents’ with a loaded Holiday HoopsGiving lineup on November 25-26. 

The post-Thanksgiving event is jam-packed with some of the top players in the country. There will be 20 nationally ranked prospects, 27 of Georgia’s top players and some of the best players from Florida, Alabama, North Carolina and Virginia/DC. 

Tournament organizer Chris Williams said this year’s field is the best yet in the short history of the vent. 

“I think this is first-class event with first class talent on board players and teams under one roof in a major city.This year’s event is on a whole different scale compared to last year,” Williams said. “We have several preseason nationally ranked high school teams and over 20 nationally ranked players that will be going at it. It should be a lot fun.” 

Williams said he and his wife wanted to provide a platform that raised awareness and benefits for children diagnosed with leukemia, specifically benefiting Scottish Rite hospital. 

“Plus, Atlanta is a major hub for high school basketball and we saw so many teams from here leave to play in events elsewhere,” Williams says, “so we thought, ‘Why not keep all of the talent here and bring in teams to play against them.’” 

Their plan worked. This year’s Holiday HoopsGiving is all about the match-ups, too. There are a number of head-to-head match-ups that jump off the page. 

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25

The pairing of IMG and Pebblebrook pins Travon Duval and Colin Sexton in a much anticipated match-up of the two best guards in America. There may not be a better guard match-up than this all high school season long. This pairing should be a preview for the post-season all-star games like McDonald’s All-American and the like. 

Greenforest Christian and Norcross will lock horns in an anticipated pairing of two of Atlanta’s most successful programs. The game features a number of nationally recruited players from all graduating years. Greenforest is a difficult team to score on and Norcross has plenty of weapons to challenge. Greenforest’s Ikey Obiagu, Victor Enoh, Baybe Iyola, Muhammaed Abdulsalem, Justin Forrest and David Quimby are all found in our Georgia rankings. Norcross boasts HoopSeen125 players Rayshaun Hammonds and Lance Thomas while Jordan Goldwire, JoJo Toppin, Kyle Sturdivant and Dalvin White play key roles for the Blue Devils.

Newton vs. Liberty County pins some of the best guards in Georgia against each other. Liberty County will rely heavily on Auburn bound guard Davion Mitchell, 2018 CG Will Richardson and UGA football bound Richard LeCounte. Newton is home to Ashton Hagans, the dynamic class of 2019 point guard, and 2017 Division I prospects JD Notae and Isaiah Miller. 

Langston Hughes vs. Henry County is an intriguing pairing. This will be the first time the Atlanta basketball community really gets to see Sanchez Nolley in action for LHHS. He helped Chicago Curie win a state title in Illinois last season. He’ll team up with Northeastern bound Derrick Cook and SE Missouri bound Khalil Cuffee. Henry County has a terrific trio, too, with George Mason bound Javon Greene and New Orleans bound Damion Rosser. Kovi Tate is one of the best athletes in metro Atlanta, too. 

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 26

The schedule on Saturday welcomes in a number of out of state teams rich with talent and a mixture of match-ups that Georgia high school hoop heads are looking forward to seeing. 

Vashon was 26-4 last season and return a good majority of that team. The St. Louis, MO powerhouse will lock horns with Marietta (GA) Wheeler. The Wildcats have one of the best collections of talent in the country. This will be the first of several major match-ups for Doug Lipscomb’s group. This will be the first big stage for Atlanta to see the team in action. Darius Perry, who is headed to Louisville, anchors the squad this year. 

Westside Macon’s Khavon Moore, Georgia's top player in 2018, will match-up with Norcross (GA) forward Reyshaun Hammonds, one of Georgia's top players in 2017. Westside will have a very aggressive slate this year and this match-up will be a good measuring stick for the Middle Georgia program. 

A Greenforest-Westlake tilt is on tap and Atlanta is ready for it. Two of the biggest teams in the state, this game is a long-awaited one. The teams are very familiar with each other as several of the players compete on the same Georgia Stars team. There will be at least eight Division I players in this game. 

Friendship Christian from Washington D.C. always makes a trip to Atlanta for action will and will have their hands full with Liberty County. Covenant Christian and Oldsmar Christian will feature size that college programs covet. 

The Cannon School (NC) is coached by former Kennesaw State assistant coach Che Roth and the roster is bolstered by Jarius Hamilton, one of the best prospects in the country for the class of 2018. They will play Benedictine (VA), who is coached by former Atlanta area coach Robert Churchwell.