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Over the next two days, Pleasant Grove will play host to some of the best boys high school basketball teams and players in the country.
The 5 for the Fight Hoopfest begins Tuesday afternoon and runs through Wednesday night. Eleven teams — seven from Utah and four from elsewhere — will be featured, with five games being played on each day.
Four of the games — two on each day — can be viewed on ESPN+.
As far as the Utah teams are concerned, Wasatch Academy is the national headliner, and Real Salt Lake Academy, Pleasant Grove, Corner Canyon, Bingham, American Fork and Cyprus will also be playing.
The four teams from outside Utah are a who’s who of national powerhouses. Montverde Academy from Florida, Sunrise Christian Academy from Kansas and AZ Compass Prep from Arizona were Nos. 1-3 in MaxPreps’ preseason rankings of the top teams in the entire country (Wasatch Academy was No. 8), and Bishop Walsh from Maryland is an elite program as well.
With those teams being so elite, perhaps it comes as no surprise that some of the best players in the country are on those squads.
Matas Buzelis (Sunrise Christian) and Sean Stewart (Montverde Academy) are ranked by 247 Sports as the No. 7 and No. 8 best prospects in the country for the class of 2023, and Kwame Evans Jr. (Montverde Academy), Mookie Cook (AZ Compass Prep) and Layden Blocker (Sunrise Christian) are Nos. 11, 16 and 25, respectively.
Buzelis will turn pro after high school and play for G League Ignite, Stewart has signed with Duke, Evans and Cook are headed to Oregon and Blocker is going to go to Arkansas.
Tickets to the event can be purchased here.
