Chick-fil-A Classic field announced. Five things to watch for at this year’s event

The top-two ranked sophomore basketball recruits in the country highlight another strong field for the Chick-fil-A Classic.

Teams were announced Thursday for one of the country’s top high school basketball tournaments, which will be held at River Bluff High School in Lexington on Dec. 27-30.

A.J. Dybantsa and Tyran Stokes of Prolific Prep in California will be part of this year’s event. Dybantsa and Stokes are ranked 1-2 by ESPN, On3 and 247Sports for the Class of 2026. On3 ranks Dybantsa as the top high school player in the country, regardless of class.

The 6-foot-8 Dybantsa led the Nike Peach Jam in scoring this summer with 25.8 points per game and also trained this year with the likes of LeBron James, Kevin Durant and other NBA stars.

The rest of the field includes Dream City Christian (Ariz.), DME Academy (Fla.), Combine Academy (N.C.), St John’s College (D.C.), John Marshall (Va.), Grayson (Ga.), Imani Christian (Pa.), Hillcrest Prep (Ariz.), The Rock School (Fla.), Dynamic Prep (Texas) and in-state schools Lancaster, Gray Collegiate, Keenan, Ridge View and River Bluff.

Teams for the Carolinas Challenge will be Irmo, Northside Christian Charlotte Christian (NC), Charlotte Country Day (NC), Richland Northeast and Indian Land.

Matchups and schedule will be announced at a later date.

Jermaine O’Neal returns

The tournament will be a homecoming for Jermaine O’Neal, the former Eau Claire High School standout who went on to play 18 seasons in the NBA and was a six-time all-star. O’Neal was enshrined in the S.C. Athletic Hall of Fame this summer.

O’Neal is the head coach of Dynamic Prep, which features his son Jermaine O’Neal Jr. The junior is ranked No. 85 in the Class of 2025 by 247Sports.

Dynamic Prep also features juniors Jaden Toombs (No. 35 by 247Sports) and Leroy Kelly.

Top-ranked girls prospects to meet

For the second straight year, the Classic will feature a single stand-alone girls matchup.

This year’s matchup will feature defending Class 3A champion Camden against Grace Christian (NC). This is the second straight year Camden will play in it. The Bulldogs defeated Keenan last year.

This year’s game features the top two players in the ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting rankings for the Class of 2024 in No. 1 Sarah Strong of Grace Christian and No. 2 Joyce Edwards of Camden. Strong is the daughter of former Chester High great Allison Feaster, who played in WNBA and now works with the Boston Celtics.

Edwards was SC Gatorade Player of Year, USA Today National Athlete of Year last season and has scored more than 3,000 points in her career.

West Coast teams are loaded

Dybantsa and Stokes aren’t the only ranked players from Prolific Prep. Others include 2024 players Derrion Reid (No. 9 by ESPN), Alabama commit Aiden Sherrell (No. 21 by ESPN), Zoom Diallo (No. 21 by 247Sports) and Mikey Lewis (No. 61 by 247Sports).

Two other West Coast teams Dream City Christian and Hillcrest Prep, both from Arizona, also have highly ranked players.

Dream City has Arizona 7-foot commit Immanuel Stephen (No. 86 by 247Sports), 2025 players Fawaz “Tacko” Ifada (No. 81 by On3) and sophomore Ikenna Alozie (No. 12 by 247Sports).

Hillcrest has Baylor commit Jason Asemota (No. 24 by On3).

Other nationally-ranked players in this this year’s tournament are Combine Academy’s Rakease Passmore, Jahseem Felton; DME Academy’s Elijah Duval and Mustapha Thiam; Grayson’s Gicarri Harris and Jacob Wilkins (son of NBA Hall of Famer Dominique Wilkins); Rock School and Virginia Tech commit Ryan Jones; Lancaster’s Jordan Watford; and Gray Collegiate’s Trayvon Maddox.

Defending champs are back

John Marshall returns for the second straight year and looks to defend its American Division championship. The Richmond, Virginia school went 28-0 last season on its way to a state championship.

JM features Latrell Allmond, the No. 22 ranked player by ESPN for the Class of 2026.

Lexington High not in tournament

For the first time since the tournament moved to Lexington County in 2021, Lexington High won’t be playing in the event.

The Wildcats, who have Texas commit Cam Scott, instead will be playing in the City of Palms Classic in Fort Myers, Florida on Dec. 18-20 and the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach on Dec. 27-29.

Schedule

Dec. 27

Chick-fil-A Classic

Keenan vs. St. John’s DC, 5:20 p.m.

Camden vs. Grace Christian (NC), 7:20 p.m. (girls)

Ridge View vs. River Bluff, 8:40 p.m.

Carolinas Challenge

Northside Christian (NC) vs. Indian Land, 12:30 p.m

Charlotte Christian (NC) vs. Richland Northeast, 2 p.m.

Irmo vs. Charlotte Country Day (NC), 3:30 p.m.

Dec. 28

Chick-fil-A Classic

Grayson (Ga.) vs. Imani Christian (Pa.), 11:10 a.m.

Rock School (Fla.) vs. Dream City Christian (Az.), 12:40 p.m.

DME Academy (Fla.) vs. Hillcrest Prep (Az.), 2:30 p.m.

Dynamic Prep (Texas) vs. Combine Academy (NC), 4:10 p.m.

Gray Collegiate vs. Prolific Prep (Ca.), 5:50 p.m.

John Marshall (Va.) vs. Lancaster, 7:30 p.m.

Slam Dunk and 3-point Contest, 9:10 p.m.

Carolinas Challenge

Auxilary Gym

Indian Land vs. Charlotte Christian (NC), 2:10 p.m.

Charlotte Country Day (NC) vs. Richland Northeast, 3:50 p.m.

Irmo vs. Northside Christian (NC), 5:30 p.m.