Future stars shine in the Chick-fil-A Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament
By Mike Danahey
Organizers of the Chick-fil-A Classic Holiday Basketball Tournament are seeking corporate sponsors for the event, which brings top high school basketball teams and talent from across the country, as well as tourist dollars and the national sports media spotlight to Lexington.
Now he’s come full circle and is part of the Guard’s recruiting team in Lexington, working with students at two area high schools.
The tournament has been around since 2002, and was played in Columbia at Richmond Northeast High School until 2021, when a construction project there brought the event to Lexington.
“We have kept it in Lexington due to the facilities and parking at both River Bluff and Lexington High Schools,” said Chuck Sanders, the tournament’s Chairman of the Board.
The four-day, late December event comes with an impressive pedigree. In its first year, four participating players — Josh Smith, Ramon Sessions, Morris Almond and Randolph Morris — went on to play in the NBA.
“We got off to a good start. We were truly blessed,” said tournament founder and executive director Gary Fulmer.
Fulmer coached basketball and served as athletics director at Richland Northeast, then as Richland District Two director of athletics. He honed the idea for the tournament while during his time as an administrator.
Fulmer said Richland East’s coach at the time, Jason Powell, introduced him to Scott Richardson of Midlands Chick-fil-A to sell the idea of backing a tournament. Richardson then convinced other Midlands Chick-fil-A restaurant operators to get on board as sponsors.
The first year featured 12 teams, Fulmer said, eight from South Carolina, two from North Carolina and two from Georgia.
The following year, the tournament grew to have two, 12-team brackets. The “National” features academies that recruit players from across the country, Fulmer said, and the “American” fields teams from more traditional high schools that belong to state associations.
Ten years ago the Classic launched the Carolina Challenge, which features four teams from South Carolina and four from North Carolina. Each plays two games against teams from the other state, for state bragging rights, Fulmer said.
And last year the Classic added one girls game featuring top ranked squads to its program. That will be back this winter with Camden High, led by highly-recruited Joyce Edwards taking on Grace Christian of Sanford, NC and its own college-star-in-the-making Sarah Strong.
Those names will be added to a long list of hoops heroes who have taken part in the Classic.
“From the first tournament’s success, the tagline ‘Where Tomorrow’s Stars Play Today’ has stuck,” Sanders said. “The tournament has been ranked as high as the third best high school tournament in the country.”
Sanders noted some of the bigtime players who have played in the Classic over the years: Steph Curry, Zion Williamson, Seth Curry, Brandon Ingram, Miles Bridges, Jalen Green, Anthony Edwards and James Wiseman, to name a few.
“More than 50 of the participants have made it to the NBA,” Sanders said.
Another three or four dozen more have played in Europe, according to Fulmer.
Of potential stars, Fulmer said one who instantly stood out was Zion Williamson, who scored 53 points for Spartanburg Day School in his tournament debut.
“And (future Golden State Warrior great) Steph Curry (playing for Charlotte Christian) could shoot as well as anybody I’ve seen,” Fulmer said.
“Having the opportunity to watch the incredible talent that we have had play at the event over the years has been quite a thrill. These players and teams are ones that you will see ranked in all of the college recruiting media,” Sanders said.
Sanders also enjoys that the tournament raises money for a scholarship fund.
“We have awarded more than $200,000 in college scholarships to Midlands high school seniors over the years,” Sanders said. “The scholarships are granted based upon several factors including athletics, academics, community involvement and an emphasis on financial need.”
For his part, Fulmer said he’s grateful for the support base he has, with 50 to 60 people helping stage the tournament every year.
As a former coach, Fulmer enjoys getting to meet and talk with coaches at the Classic, a good many of whom he now considers friends. Those include North Carolina Sports Hall of Famer, Freddy Johnson at Greensboro Day, whose win total is approaching 1,200 and who has more than two dozen conference titles and 12 state championships to his name and Steve Smith at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA, who retired in 2022 with more than 1,200 wins.
The tournament has drawn as many as 2,800 fans and brings in about more than 8,000 spectators during its 4-day run, Fulmer said. Games are also available on a streaming service, BallerTV.
As for why more corporate sponsors are needed, while event organizers keep ticket prices affordable, Fulmer said, at the same time, with post-pandemic inflation, costs of hosting teams have gone up dramatically.
For more information on the Chick-fil-A Holiday
Classic and on sponsorship opportunities,
see chick-fil-aclassic.com.
