It will be St. Louis vs. the Nation this weekend at the 12th annual VIP Recording Studio/Mariott Union Station/American Airlines High School All-Star Basketball Game.
The game, which is presented by the Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation, will be held on Saturday night at Harris-Stowe State University at 7 p.m. It will pit a group of All-Stars from the St. Louis metropolitan area against a group of players from around the country.
The DJCF All-Star Game has evolved into one of the nation’s top postseason All-Star games during the summer. Each year, the National All-Stars come into the game as heavy favorites with their big names and glittering reputations, but it always turns into a dogfight as the local players rise to the challenge and put up a good show for the hometown fans.
“I think it is a great opportunity for our local kids to show what they can do against some of the top kids around the country,” Johnson said. “It’s a chance to show what they can do on a big stage. It’s a great event for the basketball fans of St. Louis.”
Not only does the game give the St. Louis area players one last opportunity to showcase their talents at home before heading off to college, it gives the fans of area colleges Saint Louis University, Missouri, Illinois and Southern Illinois the chance to watch their future players in action. The national team is anually made up of future Billikens, Tigers, Fighting Illini as well as a few other top players.
Some of the players scheduled to play for the National All-Stars are future Missouri Tigers Michael Dixon from Lee’s Summit West, Jon Underwood (Phoenix, Ariz.), Tyler Stone (Memphis) and Keith Dewitt (North Carolina). Future SLU Billikens scheduled to play are guards Jeff Reid (Topeka, Kan.), Justin Jordan (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and forwards Jonathan Smith (Grove City, Ohio) and Cory Remekun (Mesquite, Tex.).
Among the top area playesr scheduled to play are guard Bryant Allen of two-time Class 3 state champion Maplewood (Minnesota), forward Jerome Jones of Miller Career Academy (Missouri State), guard Brandon Lockhart of Class 5 state-champion Chaminade (Drury), former Hazelwood Central teammates Connell Crossland and Bryce Foster, forward Keith Pickens of Oakville (Missouri State), guard Durand Sain of East St. Louis (Morehead State), guard Lonnie Boga of McCluer (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), guard Alex Bazzell of St. Charles West (UMKC), center Will Clark of Summit (Texas Southern), forward Will Kirksey of Lafayette (Southeastern Illinois) and forward Michael Porter of Sikeston (Missouri-State).
*If you want to check out some good summertime hoops, the River City Pro-Am Summer Basketball League is underway once again. The games will be played on Saturdays and Sundays at Cardinal Ritter College Prep. The league will feature many of the area’s top college players and several other former area standouts who are playing in the professional ranks.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr.’s blog at stlouisbasketball.com and on twitter at twitter.com/earlaustinjr. Earl will appear at Not Just a Book Store on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a book signing featuring his first book, The PHL in the STL.” The book can also be purchased on-line at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble.com and www.earlaustinjr.com.