March 5, 2009

BEVERLY, Mass. - The National Prep Championship - presented by Reebok - is coming to Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts this year. The top 8 prep school teams in the country, as decided by the National Prep Poll, will participate in a single elimination tournament to crown the 2009 national champions. The official schedule was released by tournament directors on Thursday.

Teams likely to participate in this year's National Championship include: Hargrave Military Academy (Virginia); the Patterson School (North Carolina); Bridgton Academy (Maine); Notre Dame Prep (Massachusetts); Brewster Academy (New Hampshire); the Winchendon School (Massachusetts); South Kent School (Connecticut); and the Tilton School (New Hampshire).

"Given that so many of the best teams in the country are from out of New England this year, we thought it was natural location to host the championships," said tournament director Adam Finkelstein.

Some of the top players expected to be in the field include: Maurice Creek (committed to Indiana), Deshawn Painter (committed to Florida), and Freddie Riley (committed to UMass) from Hargrave Military Academy; Clarence Trent (committed to Washington) and Vincent Council (committed to Providence) from Patterson School; Sean Kilpatrick (committed to Cincinnati), James Southerland (committed to Syracuse), and Johnnie Lacy (committed to Providence) from Notre Dame Prep; Thomas Robinson (committed to Kansas), Andrew Fitzgerald (committed to Oklahoma), and Massachusetts native Naadir Tharpe from Brewster Academy; Jordan Henriquez (committed to Kansas State) and Massachusetts natives Preye Preboyle and Akeem Williams from Winchendon; Omari Lawrence (committed to St. John's), Kevin Parrom (committed to Xavier), and local product Rashad Wright from South Kent; and local products Alex Oriakhi and Jamal Coombs (both committed to UConn) as well as Gerard Coleman from Tilton.

Last year the championships were held at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. Hargrave Military Academy came away with the national championship after defeating Findlay College Prep from Nevada in the final. Two of the nation's top ten players also led their teams into the field as Tyreke Evans and American Christian as well as Devin Ebanks and St. Thomas More both fell in the quarter-finals.

Current Miami Heat forward and last year's college basketball freshman of the year, Michael Beasley, led Notre Dame Prep to the first ever National Prep Championship in 2007 in Washington, D.C.

2009 Tournament Schedule
Monday, March 9, 2009
2:00 p.m. - Patterson School (NC) vs. Bridgeton Academy (ME)
4:00 p.m. - Hargrave Military Academy (VA) vs. Winchendon School (MA)
6:00 p.m. - Brewster Academy (NH) vs. Notre Dame Prep (MA)
8:00 p.m. - South Kent School (CT) vs. Tilton School (NH)

Tuesday, March 10, 2009
12:00 p.m. - Patterson/Bridgton vs. South Kent/Tilton
2:00 p.m. - Hargrave/Winchendon vs. Brewster/Notre Dame
8:00 p.m. - Championship