Iolani field has nation's No. 3 team
By Wes Nakama
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Iolani Prep Basketball Classic tips off tomorrow with one of its best fields in the tournament's 19-year history.
Among the 16 teams participating are three that are ranked in USA Today's top 16, including No. 3 Miami (Fla.) Christian.
Montrose Christian (Rockville, Md.), ranked No. 13 by USA Today, and No. 16 Fairfax (Los Angeles) also highlight the field.
Other top teams include Vincent (Milwaukee, Wisc.), Franklin (Seattle) and Archbishop Carroll (Washington, D.C.).
Vincent won the Milwaukee city championship last season and finished No. 14 in USA Today's final rankings. Franklin returns eight players, including USA Junior National Team member Aaron Brooks, from a team that reached last year's state quarterfinals.
And Archbishop Carroll, the alma mater of former Georgetown University coach John Thompson and former Syracuse All-American Lawrence Moten, was ranked No. 25 in Street and Smith magazine's preseason Top 25.
Tournament director Glenn Young, who started the Classic in 1983, said this year's field rates with the 1987 tournament — which featured such future NBA players as Bobby Hurley, Malik Sealy and Chris Mills — and the 1992 Classic, which included future college stars like Jerry Stackhouse, Jacque Vaughn and Felipe Lopez.
"It's just one of those years where we're really lucky," Young said. "A lot of these teams were recommended by Nike. It's gotta be one of the better overall tournaments we've had, because every team is good. It's gonna be intense."
Iolani coach Mark Mugiishi, who has coached in the past 12 Classics, agreed.
"There is not even one weak team in there," Mugiishi said. "Some years, you might have just looked at the field and been able to predict who is going to win or at least be in the finals. But this year, any of the eight (visiting) teams could have a shot."
The other Mainland team participating is Lincoln (Portland, Ore.), which finished second in its conference last year.
The eighth visiting team is Siena of Tuscany, Italy. Siena is a 17-and-under team of junior national competitors.
Among the Hawai'i teams participating are defending state champion Iolani, 2002 state semifinalist Kaimuki and quarterfinalist Kamehameha, and perennial Interscholastic League of Honolulu contender St. Louis.
Iolani returns senior forward Bobby Nash, who has signed a letter of intent with Hawai'i, and junior point guard Derrick Low, who is being recruited by the likes of Kansas and Kentucky.
In preseason action so far, the Raiders have defeated Kaimuki, Punahou and Kamehameha by more than 20 points.
"We've been playing well enough where I think we can play (the Mainland powers) tough," Mugiishi said. "We've been shooting the ball really well."
Miami Christian returns three key players from a squad that went 38-2 and won the Florida 1A state championship last season. Forward Sammy Hernandez is considered to be Florida's top sophomore, and he will be joined by highly regarded transfers Guillermo Diaz, Raul Orta and Josh Bunyan.
Montrose Christian, last year's Classic runner-up, returns power forward Linas Lieiza and point guard Rich Baker.
Fairfax, which won the 2001 Classic, returns the tournament's Most Valuable Player, point guard Kevin Bell.
