Wiedmer: Dr. Pepper Classic could bring top NCAA coaches to town

McCallie School basketball coach John Shulman tried to give the assist to Chattanooga Coca-Cola's Darren Hodges early Wednesday afternoon.

Referring to the new four-team McCallie Dr Pepper 10 Classic that will debut at the private school next February, Shulman said: "All this started because of Darren and Coke. He basically asked, 'If they aren't going to continue this (the long-running Dr Pepper Classic) at UTC, would we like to do it at McCallie as a high school event?'"

Countered Hodges with a slight smile: "We sell soft drinks. We don't put on basketball tournaments."

But perhaps because they're so good at selling soft drinks, Chattanooga Coca-Cola was able to sponsor tournaments at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga for every season from 1984-85 through 2013-14. Then it vanished from the schedule -- the head coach who axed it, Will Wade, disappearing from campus almost as quickly.

But while UTC athletic director David Blackburn must find a replacement for Wade, the Dr Pepper (10) Classic now has a new home at McCallie, where the most famous high school program in the country over the past few decades -- Oak Hill Academy of Mouth of Wilson, Va. -- will join local teams McCallie, Central and Hamilton Heights for a two-night tourney on Feb. 5-6.

For a high school kid, playing Oak Hill is like a college program going up against Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina. The small private school has had more than 160 of its players earn NCAA Division I scholarships over the years, as well as producing 25 NBA draft picks. In the last 19 years alone, former players Doron Lamb, Nolan Smith, Ty Lawson, Carmelo Anthony, Steve Blake and Ron Mercer were all integral parts of NCAA title teams.

"Just watching them this past weekend at Madison Square Garden (in the high school national championship game loss to Montverde of Florida), they've got a pretty athletic group of kids," McCallie rising senior forward Adrian Thomas said of the Warriors, who finished the year 47-1.

"This will be a great experience for us as a school. Might make Chattanooga basketball grow a little bigger."

It is arguably the biggest regular-season basketball event to take place in this city. About the only thing similar to it in the past involving a Chattanooga school occurred when Jimmy Braddock led Baylor against Southwest Macon in Atlanta's Omni at the dawn of the 1980s. Southwest had future NBA star Jeff Malone and future Georgia great Terry Fair, among others. Braddock was headed to North Carolina. Coach Duck Richardson's Macon squad won easily.

But this event will pit Oak Hill's Warriors against McCallie on Friday night with Hamilton Heights versus Central, and Oak Hill facing Hamilton Heights and the Blue Tornado hosting the Purple Pounders on Saturday evening.

Given the number of major college prospects expected to be on the floor both nights, Shulman also expects to see a large number of recognizable college coaches among the expected crowd of 2,500, especially if Hamilton Heights 6-foot-10 center Abdulhakim Ado hasn't signed by then.

Recruited hard by Memphis, Louisville, Tennessee, Ohio State, Florida and Kentucky, to name but six, it wouldn't be farfetched to see Hall of Fame coaches such as U of L's Rick Pitino and UK's John Calipari in the stands.

"Especially Friday night," Shulman said. "We're an easy town to get in and out of, and because most of those schools will play a game on Saturday, Friday's probably a better night for the head coaches to visit."

But there are plenty of other reasons for our town to turn out than just to catch a glimpse of potential college and NBA stars.

"We want this to be a classy event," said first-year McCallie headmaster Lee Burns, whose friendship with Oak Hill headmaster Michael Groves helped make this possible. "We don't want this to be just about basketball. We're going to have a free youth clinic for area kids on that Saturday morning and a special guest speaker to address all four teams on Friday. We want it to be a fun experience for everyone."

Yet Burns isn't in any way downplaying the quality of ball that will be on display.

"There may not have been this many future NBA players in Chattanooga at one time since Dean Smith brought Michael Jordan and the rest of his North Carolina team to the Roundhouse in 1982," Burns said.

Nor does McCallie's Thomas believe that the possible presence of such coaching giants as Pitino, Calipari, Florida's Billy Donovan, UT's Rick Barnes or Vandy's Kevin Stallings will unnerve the less celebrated young athletes.

"I played in front of Pitino in an AAU tournament one time," the small forward said. "You just have to keep doing what you do."

Central coach Rick Rogers is the only one of the three local coaches who won't have a chance to face Oak Hill. Or maybe knowing that Central lost to Hamilton Heights by only five points in last December's Best of Preps tourney, Oak Hill wanted no part of the Purple Pounders.

Either way, Rogers said his kids are thrilled to be a part of the Dr Pepper 10 Classic.

"They want to play the best," Rogers said. "But they're also excited to watch the best, and that's Oak Hill."

And given that, UTC's loss would appear to be Chattanooga prep basketball's gain.

Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.

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