Cincinnati's Aiken High School is headed to Kettering this January, one of 30 teams named to the 24th annual Flyin' to the Hoop basketball tournament, running January 15 through 18, 2027 at Trent Arena. The four-day showcase will pack in 17 games across its schedule, drawing programs from across the region and beyond to one of the most-watched stretches of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend high school basketball calendar.
The schedule was detailed by the Cincinnati Enquirer, which first reported which Cincinnati-area teams would be making the trip to Kettering for the 2027 edition. Aiken enters the field with momentum, having reached the OHSAA Division II state Final Four in 2026 and won a district-final game, according to Flyin' to the Hoop.
That kind of résumé is exactly what the event has built its reputation on. CBS Sports and MaxPreps have consistently ranked Flyin' to the Hoop as the No. 2 high school basketball showcase in the country, trailing only the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Massachusetts, per a comparison highlighted by the Hoop Heads Pod.
A Launchpad for Future NBA Draft Picks
The tournament's track record speaks for itself. As of 2026, more than 100 former Flyin' to the Hoop participants have gone on to be drafted into professional sports leagues, including four overall No. 1 NBA Draft picks: Anthony Davis in 2012, Anthony Bennett in 2013, Andrew Wiggins in 2014, and DeAndre Ayton in 2018, according to the event's own history page.
That pipeline is part of why the showcase pulls in such a dense crowd of scouts and media each winter. The event annually attracts more than 20,000 spectators, over 100 national media members, and more than 100 Division I, II, and III college basketball coaches to Kettering's James S. Trent Arena, organizers say.
From a Vandalia Gym to a Kettering Fixture
Flyin' to the Hoop wasn't always a national brand. It was founded in 2003 by local entrepreneur Eric Horstman, president of Miamisburg-based sports marketing firm Sports Image, after area high school coaches challenged him to organize a regional showcase, according to Destination Dayton. The tournament originally launched that January at Vandalia-Butler High School before moving in 2008 to its current permanent home at Trent Arena on the campus of Kettering Fairmont High School.
Trent Arena itself opened in October 2005 and features a seating capacity of 4,400 spectators across two full-size basketball courts and an 8,000-square-foot lobby, per the same Destination Dayton account. Horstman later built on the showcase's popularity by launching the TOP GUN Showcase at Vandalia-Butler High School in 2020, a two-day sister event also featuring prep basketball programs.
A Mid-Winter Boost for the Dayton Region
Beyond the basketball, the tournament has become a notable economic driver for the region. The annual four-day event generates an estimated $1.9 million in local economic impact for the Dayton and Kettering region over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend, Destination Dayton reports, as hotels and restaurants fill up with traveling teams, families, and scouts.
The 2026 edition gives a sense of the caliber of competition Aiken and its fellow Cincinnati-area programs will be stepping into. That field featured 29 teams from eight states, including 12 of Ohio's top-20 ranked programs, five national top-20 teams, five 5-star prospects, and more than 25 4-star prospects, according to Destination Dayton's recap. With 30 teams now slated for 2027, the event appears poised to match or exceed that scale when it tips off in Kettering in January.
