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One of the nation’s largest, coed holiday high school basketball tournaments

For over three decades, the Holiday Classic has been a showcase of great talent and unbelievable basketball in Bloomington-Normal. The 2011 tournament will be the 33rd anniversary for one of the nation’s largest, coed high school holiday basketball tournaments.

The Classic was originated in 1975 and was first called the Illinois State Classic. Normal Community High School was crowned the first boys champion by defeating Chicago Brother Rice, 60-51. Over the next 10 years (through 1985), Lincoln would play in the championship game four times (winning twice) and Galesburg would win four championships, including three straight titles from 1981-83. In the beginning, the Classic field consisted of a combination of 16 Class A (small school) and Class AA (large school) teams, from all over the state including all four intercity schools. The Classic took a break from 1986 through 1989, but came back in 1990 and was known as the University High Classic. Sherrard was crowned the champ in 1990, and two years later Gridley became the first Class A school to slay the giants and walk away as champion of the Holiday Classic.

In 1995, the Classic turned down the road that would eventually lead it to the event as it is known today. A community volunteer group, spear-headed by current tournament president Dan Highland, took over all duties and responsibilities for the tournament. This group, then known as the Classic Organizing Group, Inc. (COG), consisted of leaders from all aspects of the Bloomington-Normal community. The tournament was then called the Bloomington-Normal Holiday Classic, and later took on Converse as its title sponsor in 1996 and 1997.  Major changes implemented at the time included having 32 participating boys’ teams, and breaking the field into two 16-team sections (Class A and Class AA to mirror the IHSA state tournament). All teams would be guaranteed three games, and those teams which won all three games would come back on the fourth and final day to determine a champion in each class in the morning. The night session would consist of the two losing teams playing against each other for third place, while the two champs went head to head for the title of Grand Champion. Rockford Boylan won the first Grand Championship game in 1995, defeating Bloomington Central Catholic 74-63. The next year saw Manito Midwest Central, led by Ryan Knuppel, become the second Class A team to win the Classic by defeating Boylan, 64-58, in one of the most exciting games in tournament history.

The Classic also took on a different twist in 1995 by hosting an 8-team girl’s shootout. This shootout evolved into a 14-team tournament in 1997, and is now a full-fledged 32-team tournament, mirroring the boys tournament format. Galesburg was the first girls Grand Champion in 1997, by overcoming a 17-point deficit and winning a 77-74 thriller over Class A Mendota on a last second three-pointer by Jaque Howard. Galesburg won the first three Grand Championships (1997, 98 & 99) and had a winning streak of 16 games, before being defeated by Urbana in 2000. That same year, Rock Island Alleman became the only Class A team, and the only team other than Galesburg, to win the girls Grand Championship.

In 1999, the Classic got a big shot in the arm with the announcement of State Farm Insurance as its Title Sponsor. The State Farm Holiday Classic, as it is known today, was able to implement a variety of enhancements thanks to this support, and still continues to find new ways to be the best tournament in the nation. By now the event was starting to gain national recognition, and that included adding teams from across the country to its tournament field. After testing the waters with a team from Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1996, the Classic has seen teams participate from Washington, D.C.; Kentucky; Tennessee; Ohio; Indiana; Florida; Mesa, AZ; Missouri, Pittsburgh, PA; and New Orleans, LA.

In 2001, the COG, now known as the Classic Tournament, Inc., experimented with eliminating the cross-over Grand Championship game and crowning two girls’ champions, one in each class. The experiment worked so well that the same idea was implemented into the boys’ tournament in 2002. By this time, the Grand Championship game had become somewhat anti-climatic for the fans and teams alike, as many times the Class AA teams were to overpowering for the smaller schools. With the new system in place, all teams are now guaranteed four games and championship night has been revived to the point where near capacity Shirk Center crowds are able to witness four consecutive championship games.

Over the years the Classic has seen its share of great individual performances. In 1985, Rockton Hononegah’s Jim Shikenjanski averaged nearly 33 points a game, and pulled down 66 rebounds over the course of the tournament. Eight years later in 1993, Mike Robinson of Peoria Richwoods knocked down 18 field goals in one game, while in 1999 Rock Island Alleman’s Tyler Ryan killed 9 three pointers for a tournament record. In 1996, Joey Range from Galesburg wowed the crowd with a tournament record 55 points in one game, while Normal U-High’s Jeremy Stanton delivered an unselfish 18 assists in one game. And of course who could forget watching the man-child, Eddy Curry, go from signing autographs in the Shirk Center bleachers to a first round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls right out of South Holland Thornwood. Yet maybe the crowning individual achievement was when Olney East Richland’s Brittany Johnson became Illinois’ all-time career (girls or boys) prep hoops scoring leader in the second round of the 2006 tournament, breaking the record on a three-point play in the third quarter.

With the Classic becoming more successful, it looked for ways to give back the community and increase its philanthropic efforts. In 2002, local Special Olympics Illinois basketball teams were given the chance to participate in a one-day shootout at the Shirk Center on Championship Day of the tournament. These teams then had the chance to participate in an 8 minute exhibition during halftime of the championship games that night on the Shirk Center floor. This effort proved to be very popular among the full-house crowd in attendance, as well as the players who experienced this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The shootout has continued each year, and in 2005 it was renamed the Ron Knisley Memorial Special Olympics shootout after the long-time committee member and huge Classic supporter, who was also Director of Sports and Competition for Special Olympics Illinois.

In 2006, the first recipients of the Holiday Classic Foundation Scholarships were awarded in an effort to give back to graduating seniors who participated in the Holiday Classic and were extending their educational careers at four-year universities or colleges. To date, the Classic Foundation has awarded $24,000.00 in scholarships to deserving student-athletes.

All of these changes and enhancements over the years have led thousands of fans to discover what we know today as “The Best Basketball This Side Of March!”

The Best of the Best…

Over the years the Holiday Classic has seen its share of great teams and players. Here is just a sample of those great players:

NBA players:

  • Kevin Duckworth of the Portland Trailblazers (Dolton Thornridge)
  • Melvin McCants of the Los Angeles Lakers (Chicago Mt. Carmel High School
  • Eddy Curry of the New York Knicks (South Holland Thornwood High School
  • Brian Cook of the Los Angeles Clippers (Lincoln High School

WNBA players:

  • Latoya Bond of the Sacramento Monarchs (Urbana High School
  • Angelina Williams of the Detroit Shock (Chicago Washington High School
  • Kayla Pedersen of the Tulsa Shock (Mesa Red Mountain High School, AZ)

Illinois Mr. Basketball award winners:

  • Brian Cook (Lincoln) – 1999
  • Eddy Curry (Thornwood) – 2001
  • Chasson Randle (Rock Island) – 2011

McDonald’s All-Americans:

  • Eddy Curry in 2001 (Thornwood
  • Kayla Pedersen in 2007 (Mesa Red Mountain
  • Mike Robinson in 1996 (Peoria Richwoods

NCAA Final Four participants

  • John Baines (Normal U-High), Korey Coon (East Peoria) and Nathan Hubbard (Normal U-High) lead Illinois Wesleyan University to the 1997 D-III Men’s National Championship title.
  • Brittany Hasselbring (Kankakee Bishop Mac), Olivia Lett (Pana), Karen Solari (Park Ridge Maine South), Annie Brown (Normal West), Katy Seibring (Normal Community), Haley Kitchell (Taylor Ridge Rockridge) and Jordan Steinbrueck (Normal U-High) lead Illinois Wesleyan University to the 2011 D-III Women’s Final Four (fourth place).
  • Emily Hanley (Normal Community) and Amanda Clifton (Rock Island Alleman) helped lead Illinois State University to three straight WNIT Final Four appearances from 2009-11.
  • Kayla Pedersen lead Stanford University to four consecutive Final Four appearances from 2008-11.
  • Mark Vershaw lead University of Wisconsin to the 2000 Final Four (East Peoria)

Illinois’ all-time leading scorer:

  • Brittany Johnson became Illinois’ all-time prep career scorer (male or female) during the second round of the 2006 State Farm Holiday Classic. She played four seasons for The Ohio State University women’s basketball team. (Olney East Richland

NFL Players:

  • Michael Hoomanawanui of the St. Louis Rams (Bloomington Central Catholic)
  • Josh Brent of the Dallas Cowboys (Bloomington Central Catholic)

Major League Baseball/minor league players:

  • Kevin Roberson (Decatur Eisenhower)  played in the MLB from 1993-96 with the Chicago Cubs and New York Mets
  • Zach McAllister (Chillicothe IVC) was drafted by the New York Yankees in 2006 and traded to the Cleveland Indians in 2010 where he made his major league debut on July 7, 2011 vs. the Toronto Blue Jays
  • Robbie Minor (Rock Falls) played one season (2007) in the New York Yankees minor league system, and the 2008 season for the Gateway Grizzlies in the Frontier League
  • Jakob Junis (Rock Falls) was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in 2011 and is currently with their Rookie League program in Surprise, AZ
  • Tyson Blaser (Taylor Ridge Rockridge) signed a minor league deal with the New York Yankees in 2011 and currently playes for their Class A Advanced Florida State League affiliate the Tampa Yankees
  • Josh Parr (Chillicothe IVC) signed a minor league deal with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2011 after playing at the University of Illinois. Parr played for the Missoula (Montana) Osprey before a season ending injury when he was hit in the face with a fastball.

U.S. Olympians:

  • Ogonna Nnamani member of the 2004 and 2008 United States Olympic women’s volleyball team (Normal U-High

Professional soccer players:

  • Ashlee Pistorius won the Honda Sports Award in 2008 as the nation’s top collegiate soccer player at Texas A&M, and played for the Boston Renegades of the USL W-League (Normal U-High)