Connecticut high school basketball is once again taking its act on the road to Springfield, Massachusetts, with dozens of boys and girls teams set to compete in the 2027 Panini Hoophall Invitational. The event, now entering its third year, is expected to include 84 teams total — 64 boys squads and 20 girls squads — spread across multiple sites in the city best known as the birthplace of basketball.
A Growing Connecticut Contingent, With Conflicting Counts
According to the Connecticut Post, Connecticut will send 24 teams to the 2027 Invitational, though the same report also states the CIAC will send 22 teams — a discrepancy the paper does not resolve. Either way, it is a significant presence for a single state inside an event that has rapidly expanded since its 2025 debut. Each team at the Invitational is guaranteed two games, the outlet notes, continuing a format that has defined the event since it began.
The Invitational's growth has been steep. Per the Connecticut Post, the event included 76 teams in 2025, while a separate account from CT Insider describes that inaugural 2025 field as a 64-team event made up of 48 boys teams and 16 girls teams — the two outlets' figures for that first year do not match. CT Insider's contemporaneous coverage also reported that the event drew teams from eight states in its first year, including Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Maine and Vermont, while the 2026 edition brought in squads from Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.
New London Returns for a Third Straight Year
New London's boys and girls programs are headed back to the Invitational for a third consecutive year, and the Connecticut Post reports the two teams will play back-to-back games on Jan. 16, 2027, at Duggan Academy. New London was among the original Connecticut programs at the 2025 inaugural event, with CT Insider's early reporting listing the Whalers' boys and girls teams alongside a boys field that included St. Bernard-Uncasville, West Haven, Stamford, New Britain, Weaver-Hartford and Newington, and a girls field that included Glastonbury and Masuk-Monroe.
Also slated for Duggan Academy are the Grasso Tech boys, New Britain girls and Career boys teams, the Connecticut Post reports. Pope Francis Preparatory is set to host four games featuring Connecticut teams, including matchups involving Weaver's boys and girls squads.
Commerce, Putnam and Springfield Central Round Out the Sites
At the High School of Commerce, the Connecticut Post lists Killingly boys, Coventry girls and New Fairfield boys among the scheduled games. Putnam Vocational Technical Academy is set to host Notre Dame Prep's boys team, which the outlet notes defeated Mater Dei of California at last year's Hoophall Classic. Bristol Central's girls team, meanwhile, is slated to play at Springfield Central, rounding out the venues named in the report.
The broader Hoophall Classic — the marquee event that the Invitational runs alongside — is scheduled to run Jan. 14-18, 2027, with games held at Springfield College, according to the Connecticut Post. The outlet reported that the Hoophall Classic field was expected to be announced during the week of Oct. 21, 2026. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame describes the Hoophall Classic as an annual national showcase for top high school players and teams, held over Martin Luther King Jr. Day weekend at Springfield College's Blake Arena, according to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
A Showcase That Has Drawn National Attention
The Invitational's rise has coincided with the Hoophall Classic's own growing national profile. In the 2026 event, WWLP reported a matchup between Virginia's Oak Hill Academy and Florida's Montverde Academy, underscoring the event's pull for marquee programs well beyond New England. For Connecticut programs, the Invitational has become a reliable annual trip to Springfield's gyms, with the state's footprint growing from a handful of teams in 2025 to the two dozen or so now expected for 2027.
