Former NBA star Carlos Boozer watches twin sons; City of Palms to be televised on ESPN

City of Palms Classic to be televised on ESPN for first time in 12 years; GEICO Nationals returning to Fort Myers for third consecutive year

Tournament director Donnie Wilkie couldn't be happier to have ESPN back in Fort Myers, televising the City of Palms Classic.

After a 12-year hiatus, the network will be televising games once again at the tournament. All games will be on ESPNU, starting Tuesday night with the two semifinal matchups featuring Paul VI-Columbus, and Wheeler-Imhotep Charter. The network will also be televising the championship and third-place games on Wednesday.

ESPN previously televised games in 2008, 2009, and 2010. With ESPN+ transitioning into being a focal point of the company in the long term, there's a possibility numerous games could be streamed and televised on the network in future years.

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"It's a strange feeling in a sense because I think 10 or 15 years ago, you aspired to be on ESPN," Wilkie said. "And if you got there, you felt like you had made the big time. Now, it feels like if you're not on, you haven't made it. I know it sounds like I'm saying the same thing, but it feels like a prerequisite if you want to call yourself a major high school basketball event.

"... I think more than anything, it opens us up from an exposure point of view. It opens a lot more doors, and ultimately, whether those doors are open for us or for Paragon, it really doesn't matter. This is just going to make our tournament so much more special."

The contract between the City of Palms Classic and ESPN is slated to run for 20 years. It was not disclosed whether or not there are opt-outs or renewals involved in the deal.

"I'm not 100 percent sure about this, because I'm just as eager to find out," Wilkie said. "Because that would potentially mean that I'm living another 20 years. I think that's the part I should be most excited about. To me, that's breaking news."

Wilkie has known Paragon Marketing president Rashid Ghazi for over a decade. Wilkie was the one who suggested to Ghazi that he bring the GEICO Nationals to Fort Myers. The tournament was previously held at Christ the King High School in Queens, N.Y., but the coronavirus pandemic caused the cancellation of the 2020 tournament.

With the tournament being held in late March and early April, coupled with phased reopenings lagging in New York City relative to most of the country, Ghazi had a decision to make. He took Wilkie's advice to move the GEICO Nationals to Fort Myers. The tournament will be returning for a third straight year this spring.

The Montverde boys and girls basketball teams won the their respective tournaments, held from March 31-April 2nd. In 2021, the Montverde boys won, as did the Westlake (Ga.) girls.

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"I've gone to the GEICO Nationals as early as they were being held in Bethesda, Maryland, in the infancy of the GEICO Nationals," Wilkie added. "I've known Rashid for a long time. I went up to New York City, probably in 2019. I loved it up there at Christ the King High School. When the pandemic happened, things in Florida seemed like they had opened up quicker. Of course, 2020 was out of the question. In 2021, the whole time, I'm saying to Rashid, 'Have you thought about coming down south?' And low and behold, we end up in the same building.

"The truth of the matter is when you put the City of Palms, the GEICO Nationals, and the Fort Myers Tip-Off in the same building, I don't think there's any question about where the capital of basketball is located."

Carlos Boozer watches twin sons win their City of Palms opener

With their father Carlos conspicuously cheering them on from center court, Cayden and Cameron Boozer of Miami’s Christopher Columbus helped lead the Explorers into the City of Palms semifinals with a 65-56 win over Myers Park (N.C.) Monday.

Carlos, a standout on Duke’s 2001 NCAA national championship team and an All-Star forward in the NBA, never had the opportunity to play at the City of Palms. He was a two-time Parade All-American at Juneau-Douglas High in Alaska, powering them to back-to-back state titles in the late 1990s.

Only one Alaska high school has ever competed at the City of Palms. That was Anchorage East in 1992 and 1995. In its first appearance, Anchorage, led by another future Duke star in guard Trajan Langdon, lost in the tournament final to Washington (D.C.) Dunbar.

Canterbury’s Leroy Roker plays two games without a substitution 

The Cougars' dual-sport star has been doing it all for Canterbury in the City of Palms. Roker hasn’t left the court since the tournament started, playing 64 minutes over both of the Cougars’ games.

Roker was instrumental in a competitive game on Monday against Tampa Catholic. In his 32 minutes played, he tallied 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists. Of Canterbury’s 22 turnovers in the loss, Roker was responsible for just one.

“And [Roker] is a warrior, man,” Canterbury head coach Mike Hibbs said. “He’s the guy who makes everything go for us on both offense and defense. He just does everything for us, and I can’t take him out of the game, even if he does ask.”

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: City of Palms Classic: ESPN ready to roll; Carlos Boozer watches sons