These are the college and NBA stars of tomorrow, and they will be here in Orem for three days. This is a rare opportunity to see the best individual talent and nationally ranked teams all competing against each other in the same tournament. – Golden Holt, Orem HS basketball coach
OREM — According to ESPN, De’Ron Davis from Overland High School in Colorado is the best high school player in the country for his age. Lone Peak High School fielded the best team in the county following the 2012-13 season, according to MaxPreps.
Both will participate in the third annual Great Western Shootout to be held Dec. 5-7 at Orem High School.
“This is going to be one of the top basketball tournaments in the entire country,” Orem coach Golden Holt said. “These are the college and NBA stars of tomorrow, and they will be here in Orem for three days. This is a rare opportunity to see the best individual talent and nationally ranked teams all competing against each other in the same tournament.”
Orem, American Fork and Bingham will represent Utah along with Lone Peak. The out-of-state field includes Bishop O'Connell (Virginia), Denver East (Colorado), Overland (Colorado) and Foothill High School (Nevada).
“This is the best field that tournament has ever had,” said Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis. “It’s very exciting to be part of it.”
The field features more than a dozen prospective Division I players. TJ Haws (Lone Peak) and Dalton Nixon (Orem) have both signed with BYU, as has American Fork’s Ryan Andrus. Davis is the top rated 16-year-old prospect in the country according to ESPN. He already has more than 10 Division I offers. Dominique Collier from Denver East has played on the USA national team and Bishop O’Connell’s Romelo Trimble is ranked as a top 100 player by Scout.com.
The tournament format will include in-state versus out-of-state pairings on Thursday and Friday. Following Friday night’s action, the schedule for Saturday will be announced. The tournament will conclude with the Showcase Game. Last year's Showcase Game featured Orem versus Lone Peak, a matchup that sold out within minutes.
In addition to the tournament action, there will be a Slam Dunk and 3-point shooting contest on Friday night, followed by a fireworks show and dance.
Due to demand from last year's tournament, reserved tickets will be available for sale online after Sept. 1 on the Great Western Shootout website.
With the help of corporate sponsors, the tournament will award $10,000 in scholarships to participating schools this year.
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