The St. Louis area was well represented at last weekend’s Midwest Boys’ Basketball Showcase, which was held at the HyVee Arena in Kansas City.
The two-day NCAA sanctioned event featured 92 high school teams from Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska and Arkansas. There were more than 30 teams from the state of Missouri, including several top teams from St. Louis. The event was presented by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association in conjunction with the Missouri State High School Activities Association and the other state associations.
Among the St. Louis area teams in attendance were Class 4 state champion Vashon and Class 5 state champion Cardinal Ritter. Metro Catholic Conference power Chaminade was also in the field along with Webster Groves, who won the Class 5 state championship in 2022.
Rounding out the teams from St. Louis who made the trip were DeSmet, Vianney, MICDS, Lutheran North, St. Mary’s and Principia.
In addition to the great competition between the top teams from the region, the most important aspect of the weekend was the multitude of college coaches who were in attendance. There were coaches from NCAA Division I and II institutions in attendance. Some of the schools represented at the event included Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas State, Iowa State, Northwestern, Missouri State, SEMO, Wichita State and many more.
Some of the local players who stood out during the weekend were: Trey Williams (Vashon), Christian Williams (Vashon), Jameson White (Chaminade), Iziah Purvey (Webster Groves), Nashawn Davis (Cardinal Ritter), Luke Walsh (Vianney), Ian Thomas (DeSmet), Jayden Banks (MICDS), Zyree Collins (St. Mary’s), Bryce Spiller (Lutheran North) and Jaylen Edwards (Principia).
As for the top teams, Vashon is poised to field another powerful team after winning another state championship. The Wolverines are deep and talented with both Trey and Christian Williams returning as starters along with 6’8” junior Nicholas Randall, who has received numerous Division I offers.
Chaminade has a young and talented team that will be a major contender in Class 6 while Cardinal Ritter returns the bulk of its nucleus from its state championship team.
