If you’re an avid high school basketball junkie living in the Indianapolis area, this one has been circled on the calendar for a long time. It’s the 2005 Circle City Classic Challenge of Champions and it’s absolutely loaded!
Greg Oden and his crew take on Brian Carlwell and Proviso East in what should be a heavyweight tilt worth the price of admission. But, and it’s a big but, that’s not the game everyone is excited for.
Prior to Oden taking center stage, a match up featuring two of the elite guards in the Class of 2007 will unfurl. Eric Gordon’s North Central squad laces them up against Chicago Simeon and Derrick Rose.
Gordon is excited for the entire day, not just for his tilt with Rose. ““It’s crazy because you’re playing against the top guys in the nation. Seeing all the other games and watching us play, it’ll just be exciting. AAU is different than high school basketball because you’re playing with different players. It’s going to be fun!”
The Rose-Gordon game features one future Illini in Gordon and Rose, Bruce Weber’s other top target in the Class of 2007.
“We haven’t talked about playing against each other but we’ve talked about going to the same college,” Gordon said. “I’m trying to get him to go to Illinois with me. We talk every now and then but it’ll be something different when we get a chance to go against each other.”
It sure will.
Here’s a list of the high profile players that will be participating in the event:
Greg Oden, Lawrence North
Deshawn Sims, Pershing
Mike Conley, Lawrence North
Korie Lucious, Milwaukee King
Brian Carlwell, Proviso East
Jamil Tucker, Gary Westside
Cordell Passley, Pike
Mitchell Carter, Milwaukee King
Scout.com will be in attendance covering the one-day event before moving our coverage to the City of Palms!