Archbishop Stepinac (NY), St. Paul VI Catholic (VA), St. John Bosco (CA), Long Island Lutheran (NY) headline City of Palms Classic; Blue Star Media Elite 25 preseason hopefuls featured in field

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The greatest show on court just announced its star-studded field today.

The City of Palms Classic, widely considered the premier boys high school basketball event in the nation, revealed the team for the 52^nd version of hardwood heroes.

The tournament will return to Florida SouthWestern State’s Suncoast Credit Union Arena from Dec. 18-23. Here is the schedule.

The entire Traditional field with several teams that appear regularly in the Blue Star Media Elite 25 rankings:

Archbishop Stepinac (White Plains, N.Y.), Bartlett (Tenn.), Bishop McNamara (Forestville, Md.), Calvary Christian Academy (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Columbus (Miami), Imhotep Prep Charter (Philadelphia), Owasso (Okla.), St. Paul VI Catholic (Chantilly, Va.), Petersburg (Va.), Principia (Mo.), Rainier Beach (Seattle), Sarasota (Fla.), St. John Bosco (Bellflower, Calif.), The Villages Charter (Fla.) and Wheeler Magnet (Marietta, Ga.).

There’s more with the Signature Series, featuring Prolific Prep (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Montverde (Fla.) Academy, CIA Bella Vista (Phoenix) and Gillion Academy (Springfield, Va.). Also, the Sunshine Series with St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.), Notre Dame (West Haven, Conn.), Olympia (Orlando, Fla.) and Victory Christian (N.C.) final the Thimlar Game between locals Bishop Verot and Barron Collier.

A year ago, No. 1 Columbus (Miami) captured the uber-competitive traditional bracket as the Boozer twins, Cam and Cayden (now at Duke), steered the Explorers past powerhouse Montverde (Fla.) Academy in the final. Columbus went on to win a fourth consecutive FHSAA Class 7A state championship and the CHIPOTLE High School Nationals. The Explorers also bagged the Blue Star Media Elite 25 National Championship.

According to a social media post from the tournament director, the City of Palms had a record 10 players previous tournaments selected in the first round of the 2025 NBA Draft. Since 1982, there have been 143 first-round tournament alumni, including 68 taken in the top-10 selections.