205 Tip-Off Classic featuring D1 talent from three states

Rockford Auburn has won four of the past five NIC-10 titles, but the school graduated all five starters from last year's team that went 29-2.

Fans will get a chance beginning Monday to see if the new generation of Knights will live up to the recent past, which includes four players playing Division 1 college basketball right now -- Fred Van Vleet, Wichita State; Delundre Dixon, Chicago State; Laytwan Porter, Northern Illinois and Antoine Pittman, Bradley.

The Knights take on Chicago Farragut at 7:30 p.m. at Auburn in the second game of opening night for the 205 Tip-Off Classic.

With half of the NIC-10 in the Tip-Off Classic, fans will get a very early chance over five days to see how who might be able to make a run at this year's conference championship.

The Tip-Off Classic offers a lot more than an early preview of the NIC-10 race, several teams feature players who will star at the next level.

* Chicago Farragut has Rulan Scott, a 6-4 guard, who has played in a handful of college showcase events.

* South Elgin stars 6-9 Tyler Hankins, who already has committed to play for Central Michigan University.

* Janesville (Wis.) Parker has 6-0 senior guard Carlos Campus, who was nominated for the McDonalds All-American award.

* Chicago Hyde Park has a strong inside-out combination of D1 prospects in Tjuan Agee, 6-7, and Jamal Gill, 5-5.

* Indianapolis Pike, which has produced four NBA first round draft picks in Courtney Lee, Jeff Teague, Marquis Teague and R.J. Hunter, has 5-11 senior guard Justin Thomas. Thomas drew interest from Tennessee in 2014 and has an official offer now from Western Illinois.

* Elgin Larkin though has the most highly touted prospect in Christian Negron. The 6-6 forward has received official offers from Illinois, Iowa, Virginia Tech, DePaul and Bradley.

Fans will get to Negron first. Larkin opens the Tip-Off Classic Monday at 6 p.m. against Freeport.

Welcome to the Rockford Public Schools 205 Tip-Off Classic

We are delighted to bring back this first-class, competitive experience for players, coaches and fans. The tournament features five days of action with 23 games played by 13 boys' varsity basketball teams.

This elite competition is the result of collaboration with the business community, the Rockford Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Rockford Sports Coalition and generous sponsorships from Hagney Architects, Associated Bank, Rockford Wildcats, Rockford Orthopedic and OSF Healthcare. We'd also like to thank all of our in-kind sponsors, as well as the athletic directors, staff and booster clubs for the three hosting schools.

Five of last year's eight competing teams return -- Rockford East, Rockford Auburn, Belvidere, Elgin Larkin and Indianapolis Pike. New to this year's event are Rockford Guilford, Chicago Dunbar, Chicago Hyde Park, Chicago Farragut, South Elgin, Janesville Parker, Madison La Follette and Freeport. To accommodate this year's numbers, we have added a third venue, developed a tournament website at 205tipoffclassic.net, and secured a partnership with WIFR to have three of our games broadcast online at wifr.com.

This year's event will again feature teams with immense talent, such as Larkin junior Christian Negron and Pike senior Justin Thomas. Both are guards and are currently being recruited by several Division 1 programs. Add to that the program history of some of our new teams such as Farragut -- the home of the NBA's Kevin Garnett -- and we have a tournament full of talent and tradition that we are excited to showcase.

Thank you to everyone who made last year's inaugural Tip-Off Classic an overwhelming success, and we look forward to seeing you all back to support a bigger and better event this year.

Mat Parker
Director of Athletic Activities and Program Development
Rockford Public Schools

South Elgin Storm

Coach: Jim Cook

4     Collin Uveges, 6-2, Jr.
10   Justin Howard, 5-7, Sr.
15   Matthew Smith, 6-0, Sr.
21   Logan Atkins, 6-3, Jr.
22   Cameron Nylec, 6-4, Sr.
23   Anthony Lynch, 6-3, So.
24   Damien Young, 6-0, Sr.
30   Julian Lynch, 6-2, Sr.
32   David Binion, 6-1, So.
33   Quinton McClundon, 6-3, Sr.
35   Tyler Hankins, 6-9, Sr.

Guilford Vikings

Coach: Dean Martinetti

1    Nick Phillips, 6-0, Jr., G
3    Austin Peterson, 5-11, Sr., G
5    Devon Grunde, 6-1, Sr., G
10  Marquane Manning, 5-9, Sr., G
11  Marshon Wiggins, 5-8, Sr., G
12  Raheem Gregg, 5-11, Jr., G
21  Elijah Pappas, 6-2, Sr., G
22  Will Sheley, 6-2, Sr., F
24  Tenoah Tatum, 6-3, Jr., F
31  Isaiah Byrd, 6-0, Sr., G
32  Quantel Blaylock, 6-4, Sr., F
33  Julius Coates, 6-5, Jr., F
35  Nate Vanderwaal, 6-4, Sr., F
40  Nick Wallace, 6-5, Jr., F

East E-Rabs

Coach: Roy Sackmaster

2    Shammond Smith, 5-9, Sr., G
4    Alex Moore, 6-0, Sr., G
5    Jacob Benedetto, 5-9, Sr., G
10  Malachi Luster, 6-0, Jr., G
12  Deshon Johnson, 5-10, Jr., G
13  Charles Burnell, 5-10, Jr., G
15  Keivan Evans, 6-0, Jr., G
21  Allan Robinson, 6-2, Jr., G
23  Scott Gowan, 6-0, So., G
25  Laquavian Taber, 6-3, Jr., F
32  Chris Burnell, 6-0, Fr., G
33  Dino Prijic, 6-3, Sr., F
55  Darien Hill, 6-5, Sr. F

Auburn Knights

Coach: Bryan Ott

0    Yahmir Muhammad, 5-11, So., G
1    Justin Robinson, 5-10, So., G
2    Trayvon Tyler, 6-1, Sr., G
3    Patrick Davis, 5-7, Sr., G
5    Antaurouis Curtis, 6-0, Sr., G
11  Juwane Parchman, 6-2, Sr., F
13  Austin Sturlin, 5-9, So., G
14  Devon Richardson, 6-1, Sr., F
21  Shidyae Evans, 6-5, Sr., F
22  Trevon Wilson, 5-10, Jr., F
23  Daevion Dixon, 5-9, Sr., G
25  Terry Ford, 5-11, So., G
33  Cage Lawhorn, 6-3, Jr., C
34  Ricky Hood, 5-11, Jr., F

La Follette Lancers

Coach: Curtrel Robinson

Anthony West, 5-7, So., G
Elias Sobah, 5-7, Jr., G
Momodou Sowe, 5-8, Sr., G
Ashton Miller, 6-1, Sr., G
Khalil Lites, 6-2, Jr., G
Devin Drake, 5-7, Jr., G
Geiontay Glosson, 6-2, Jr., G/F
Julian Patton, 6-1, Jr., G
Carl Wesley, 5-8, Jr., G
David Turner, 6-6, Sr., F
Ben Steffens, 6-7, Jr., C
Kevin Dunn, 6-5, Jr., C
Alex Berg, 6-5, Jr., F/C
Travell Ewing, 6-3, Sr., F
J.J. Jordan, 6-5, Jr., F/C

Managers: Shawn Longino, Jillian Phillips, Emma Broderick