Forty of the Kansas City area's best high school basketball players took the court for the inaugural City Classic, an invite-only showcase that was free for the community to attend, bringing together 20 girls and 20 boys from both sides of the state line. Team City topped Team Classic 66-38 in the girls game, while the boys needed a target-score finish to settle a 90-85 win.
The event was originally set to be played outdoors at Yvonne Starks Wilson Park, but organizers moved it to Gateway Academy in south Kansas City because of rain, according to the Kansas City Star. The park had reopened in July following a $3.2 million renovation that added a new basketball court, a multi-purpose sports field, an inclusive playground and expanded parking, according to Kansas City Parks & Recreation. Despite the last-minute venue swap, the showcase still delivered tight, competitive finishes on both ends of the doubleheader.
Girls MVP Eve Long Headlines a Loaded Roster
Eve Long, a 6-foot-3 forward committed to Notre Dame women's basketball, was named girls MVP after helping lead Team City to its 66-38 win. The Olathe North senior is ranked No. 5 in ESPN's 2027 recruiting class, per the Star's reporting, and had already been named to the Naismith Trophy High School Player of the Year Midseason Team in January, according to Olathe Public Schools. Long has played alongside teammate Amilia Prochnow, who has committed to Kansas women's basketball, since elementary school.
Team City's girls squad was coached by Tyra White, whose own playing career included a signature moment on the sport's biggest stage. White played for Texas A&M, where she hit a game-clinching 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to help the Aggies beat Notre Dame for the 2011 NCAA Women's National Championship, according to The Battalion. White said she supports opportunities for girls basketball players, per the Star's account of the event.
Boys Game Comes Down to a Target-Score Finish
The boys game needed a non-traditional ending to settle. Team Classic led Team City 83-78 when the target score was set to 90, but Team City rallied to win 90-85, with Staley High School point guard Tra Moore hitting the game-winning points. Moore, a Class of 2027 prospect who also plays for the ETG Midwest 3SSB grassroots circuit, represented the Missouri side of the metro in the finish, according to MaxPreps.
The format that produced that finish is based on the Elam Ending, a target-score concept created in 2017 by Professor Nick Elam to eliminate late-game intentional fouling and guarantee that every contest ends on a made field goal or free throw. The rule has been popularized by The Basketball Tournament and the NBA All-Star Game, according to background compiled from Wikipedia's entry on the format.
Boys MVP honors went to Olathe North's Teke Deng, a 6-foot-11 center in the Class of 2027 who led his team to its first Class 6A Kansas state basketball championship in March, scoring 25 points in the state semifinals, according to KCHSHoops. Deng holds scholarship offers from Kansas State and DePaul. Team City's boys were coached by Michael Watson, who remains UMKC's all-time leading scorer with 2,488 points from 2000 to 2004 and was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 2023, according to Kansas City Roos Athletics. Watson said the current generation of players is 10 times better than players at the same age were during his own generation, per the Star's report.
Local Stars Turn Out to Support the Next Generation
The showcase also drew established hometown talent to cheer on the next wave. Kansas women's basketball guard Jaliya Davis, an Overland Park native and former Blue Valley North standout, was unanimously named Big 12 Freshman of the Year in March after winning nine consecutive conference Freshman of the Week honors, according to KU Sports. Utah Jazz guard Tamar Bates, a Kansas City native who starred at Piper High School before playing college ball at Indiana and Missouri, also appeared at the event after signing a two-way NBA contract this year, per his Wikipedia biography.
The City Classic was created by Aaron Washington alongside George Goode, both established local trainers. Washington, who has trained NBA players Bol Bol and Ochai Agbaji, said the event's purpose was to bring together top high school basketball players from both sides of the Kansas-Missouri state line, and that organizers simply pivoted after rain forced the venue change and made the event happen. Goode brings his own basketball pedigree to the project — he was named head varsity boys basketball coach at Raymore-Peculiar High School in April 2024 after previously playing at Louisville, coaching at The Barstow School and spending five seasons playing professionally overseas, according to Raymore-Peculiar High School. Washington said the City Classic was created to highlight Kansas City basketball talent, and he plans to make it an annual event.
