Howard Brown’s ‘Skoolz Classic’ basketball tournament returns to Pottstown Saturday

POTTSTOWN — High school basketball teams from across the region will compete to raise funds for college-bound student-athletes at Pottstown High School this Saturday.

The event is scheduled to take place at Yogi Strom Gymnasium in Pottstown, on Oct. 14. Doors open at 9 a.m. and the event culminates with the Taj Clayton Skoolz Championship Game at 2 p.m.

A total of 12 teams will gather to compete in this year’s event, representing five basketball conferences.

The Skoolz Classic has been held since 2000 and awarded scholarships for more than 20 first-generation college bound student-athletes. As a basketball showcase, it boasted some of the area’s most exceptional athletes.

Alumni of the event include luminaries such as Wayne Ellington (Episcopal Academy/NBA), Gerald Henderson (Episcopal Academy/NBA), Jalen Bond (Plymouth Whitemarsh/Texas), and local celebrities such as Pottstown’s Aaron Beasley (West Virginia/NFL) and Rian Wallace (Temple/NFL).

Nationally recognized standouts also visited Pottstown for the historic event, including WNBA standouts Mistie Bass (UConn/WNBA) and J.R. Reid (North Carolina/NBA), to name a few.

This year’s tournament features a number of historic programs.  Overbrook head coach Bo Kimble (Loyola Marymount/NBA). This year marked the 30th year anniversary of the Pottstown High School State Championship.

The event was created to celebrate the career of Pottstown’s Howard Brown, a former PA State Player of the Year, 1,000-point scorer at Villanova, and 13-year overseas pro. The Trojans won 374 games, a multitude of league and District 1 titles over the duration of coach Ken Davis’ tenure, and Ken Ivory’s team returns after competing for both the Pioneer Athletic Conference and Skoolz title last year.

Dock Mennonite’s Mike Fergus recently led the Pioneers to the team’s eighth consecutive District 1 title.  In recent tournaments, the team has demonstrated a competitive spirit without their workhorse and all-time leading scorer Nate Lapp.  Other participating teams include Phoenixville, Pottsgrove, Deiruff, Faith Christian, Coventry, and Bristol, to name a few.

The Skoolz Classic is the primary fundraiser for the Howard Brown Scholarship Fund (“HBSF”) which supports the local community by providing college scholarship funds to many recipients who are often first-generation student-athletes to pursue higher education. More about the scholarship can be found at www.skoolz.us HBSF is fiscally sponsored by the Foundation for Pottstown Education.

All spectators older than age 3 will be asked to pay an entry fee of $10.

The Skoolz Classic began in 2000 as a charity basketball showcase (not a tournament) to celebrate Howard Brown’s basketball career.  It highlighted youth, high school, many pro athletes and celebrities.