Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic: Four things to know about new high school hoops showcase
Akron high school hoops legend Jimmy Gooden is putting his name on it.
The first Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday at Springfield High School and Junior High.
Gooden starred at point guard when Central-Hower won the Class AAA state championship in 1980 with the coaching of the late Joe Siegferth Sr.
Gooden helped organize the Joe Siegferth Basketball Classic for four years at Firestone High School until the COVID-19 pandemic interfered, but now he's parlaying his experiences into running his own hoops showcase.
There is more to the story, though.
“The main thing is the focus or the purpose of the classic. It's not just a basketball classic. It's a classic to try to raise funds to move into a new facility,” Gooden said by phone.
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Here are four things to know about Gooden's event:
1. Jimmy Gooden is on a mission to create a new community center in Akron
Gooden mentors young people through Athletes for Better Education.
In 2019, the organization bought the old Goodrich Middle School building at auction from Akron Public Schools. It was used for a community center until it closed for a few months because an investor intended to renovate and share the facility, Gooden said.
However, the building was damaged through vandalism in 2021 while awaiting construction, Gooden said, and plans the investor had were foiled as a result.
Now Gooden is seeking a new home base for Athletes for Better Education.
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Gooden explained he hopes to purchase the Steel Academy building in Akron and use part of it — four classrooms, a gymnasium and a weight room — to house a new community center, which would be called the Gooden Faith Community Center. He said the charter school on site, the Steel Academy, would remain in place.
“We're trying to move in there with the same thing [Athletes for Better Education had in the previous building], with the tutoring, drug and alcohol prevention, the mental health board and sports — basketball and football,” said Gooden, who was inducted into the Akron Public Schools Athletics Hall of Fame with Siegferth in October.
2. Schedule for the Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic
The tentative schedule for the Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic is as follows:
11 a.m.: Girls — Buchtel vs. Lutheran East
1 p.m.: Girls — Ellet vs. Woodridge
3 p.m.: Boys — Garfield vs. Louisville
5 p.m.: Girls (junior varsity) — Springfield vs. Cuyahoga Falls
7 p.m.: Boys — Cuyahoga Falls vs. Springfield
8:30 p.m. Boys — Shaker Heights vs. Reimer Road Baptist Christian
There are also middle school games scheduled to be held in Springfield's junior high gym.
3. Ticket information for the Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic
Tickets will be available for purchase at Springfield. The cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students, Gooden said. Children 5 years old and younger will be admitted for free.
Doors are scheduled to open at 10:30 a.m., Gooden said. One ticket is good for admission to all of the games.
Gooden is also accepting donations through jimmygoodenclassic.com.
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4. Ellet's Caitlyn Holmes among top players scheduled to appear in the Jimmy Gooden Basketball Classic
It's apropos for a showcase spearheaded by Gooden to include a defending City Series champion because his name is synonymous with the Akron league.
Last season, the Ellet girls earned a share of the City Series regular-season title with Kenmore-Garfield and later seized the league's postseason championship.
Longtime Ellet coach Tina Wallace retired, and Nick Harris is in his first season as head coach.
Ellet's top player to watch is sophomore guard Caitlyn Holmes. After averaging 17 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and a block as a freshman, Holmes received a scholarship offer from Kent State University on Nov. 10.
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The Woodridge girls finished last season with a 16-7 record under coach Chris Nauer, and the team returns its top two players in senior Leah Mencer and junior Cameron Hoover.
Hoover and Mencer both received All-Metro Athletic Conference first-team honors last season.
Mencer averaged 11.1 points, 4.5 assists, 3.1 steals and 3.2 rebounds last season. Hoover compiled 16 double doubles last season and contributed 13 points, 10.7 rebounds and 3.6 blocks per game.
The Louisville boys team won a Division II district title a season ago and reached the regional finals before losing to eventual state champion STVM. The Leopards feature two of the best players in Stark County, Will Aljancic and Hayden Nigro.
A University of Findlay recruit, the 6-foot-6 Aljancic is Stark County's leading returning scorer at 21.2 points a game. His 572 points as a junior were a Louisville single-season record, highlighted by a career-high 37 points in Louisville's regional semifinal win over Glenville. Nigro, a 6-4 lefty point guard averaged 17.3 points and 3.2 assists while shooting 50.7% from the floor for the Leopards a season ago and is receiving a mix of Division I and Division II college interest.
The final game of the day includes the Shaker Heights boys team, which is coached Danny Young, an Akron native and 1988 Buchtel graduate.
Nate Ulrich can be reached at nulrich@thebeaconjournal.com. Michael Beaven can be reached at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com.
On Twitter: @ByNateUlrich. @MBeavenABJ.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron basketball legend Jimmy Gooden to host hoops classic
