ATLANTA – The Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Tipoff Club, administrators of the national Naismith Awards, today announced that they will host the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic presented by adidas. The games will be held on Thursday, Dec. 9 and Friday, Dec. 10 at Holy Innocents' Episcopal School (Atlanta) and on Saturday, Dec. 11 at Norcross High School (Norcross, Ga.). The three-day showcase comprises 20 high school basketball teams, featuring 12 boys teams and eight girls teams.
“We are excited to host the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic for a fourth year with the Atlanta Tipoff Club. These games allow us to showcase our passion, support and appreciation of high school basketball in the city,” said Hawks’ Vice President of Basketball Development Jon Babul. “The Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic will unite local communities and basketball fans to celebrate the competitive spirit of high school basketball.”
Tickets for the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic are available to purchase exclusively online at HawksNaismith.com beginning today. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. All youth under the age of six will be permitted to enter free of charge. Additionally, all students (K-12) and youth who attend will receive a free Atlanta Hawks t-shirt.
“We are thrilled to be partnering once again with the Hawks to showcase and celebrate the best high school basketball in the Atlanta metro,” said Eric Oberman, Executive Director of the Atlanta Tipoff Club. “The Holiday Classic has become a marquee event in Atlanta, as well as a chance to expose area youth to the sport we love.”
Also at this year’s Holiday Classic, Hawks’ partner and personal injury attorney, Ken Nugent, will continue the “Attorney Ken Nugent’s Score for Scholarships” program, in which Ken Nugent will contribute a $1 donation for every point scored during the event to further help local youth attend various Jr. Hawks activities. Additionally, Ken Nugent will sponsor a free Jr. Hawks Youth Basketball Clinic for nearly 80 boys and girls, ages eight to 14. The clinic is set to take place Saturday, Dec. 11 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Norcross High School.
“It is my privilege to be a part of the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic for the fourth year,” Ken Nugent said. “This event is a wonderful opportunity to continue supporting our community’s youth through not only a basketball tournament and clinic but also through an extension of the Score for Scholarships program which has provided Jr. Hawks scholarships and equipment to more than 1,500 youth throughout the course of my partnership with the Atlanta Hawks.”
Opening night of the showcase will begin Thursday, Dec. 9 at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School (Atlanta) with back-to-back matchups of girls teams from Marietta (Marietta, Ga.) and Hebron Christian (Dacula, Ga.) at 5:30 p.m., followed by Brookwood (Snellville, Ga.) and Holy Innocents’ (Atlanta) at 7:30 p.m. to wrap up the night.
During the evening of Friday, Dec. 10, six boys teams will take the court at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School to square off. The first of these three games will be boys teams from Mount Pisgah Christian School (Johns Creek, Ga.) and Holy Innocents’ (Atlanta) at 5 p.m. followed by McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) and North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) at 6:45p.m. After that, Newton (Covington, Ga.) and Greenforest Christian Academy (Decatur, Ga.) will complete Friday’s slate of games with the last game of the evening at 8:30 p.m.
The showcase will conclude on Saturday, Dec. 11 with two girls games and three boys games at Norcross High School. The afternoon/evening games will tip off with girls teams from Langston Hughes (Fairburn, Ga.) and Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) at 1:30 p.m. To round out the girls showcase, Westlake (Atlanta) and McEachern (Powder Springs, Ga.) will face off 3:15 p.m. Then, the boys teams will finish out the day starting with Kell (Marietta, Ga.) and Sandy Creek (Tyrone, Ga.) at 5:00 p.m., followed by Berkmar (Lilburn, Ga.) and Milton (Milton, Ga.) at 6:45 p.m. The last game of the showcase will be between Westlake (Atlanta) and Norcross (Norcross, Ga.) at 8:30 p.m.
The Hawks and Atlanta Tipoff Club have teamed up for five showcases in the past. Past venues include Norcross High School, Pace Academy and Maynard Jackson High School. Throughout the event’s history, 128 teams have participated, which includes more than 1,500 male and female athletes.
Every second of game action will be live streamed at thesuvtv.com/hawksnaismithclassic. Additional updates and information can be found by visiting HawksNaismith.com or by following @HawksNaismith on Twitter.
Media interested in covering the showcase can request credentials at HawksNaismith.com.
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