West Oaks takes on star players in Grind Session

The Grind Session, a coast-to-coast tour for the nation’s ever-growing legion of independent high school basketball powers, comes to Orlando next week with 15 teams, 18 games and a long lineup of major college prospects.

The Grind Session’s Amusement Park Classic tips off Monday and runs through Wednesday night at the Orlando Sports Center.

Orlando’s West Oaks Academy (10-1), which plays outside the FHSAA in the Sunshine Independent Athletic Association, will face last year’s Grind Session champion, Hillcrest Prep of Phoenix, Ariz., on Monday afternoon, then plays Prolific Prep of California on Tuesday night and Aspire Academy of Louisville, Ky., on Wednesday.

Those three opponents are core teams on the Grind Session circuit, all playing outside state associations that typically impose limits on travel outside state lines.

“It’s a whole different level of basketball from what you see at the local high schools around the country,” said West Oaks coach

“They may not have the fanfare of the teams that are in the state associations, but the talent is tremendous on these teams. You’re usually going to have at least three guys on the floor that are high-major level players.”

Prolific Prep opened the season ranked No. 6 nationally by USA Today. It has 6-foot-11 rated in the top 15 among seniors by 247Sports.com.

Sunrise Christian of Kansas, which plays Grind games on Tuesday and Wednesday, is now USA Today’s No. 6 team. The Buffaloes have four juniors in the top 115 in (6-7), (6-7),

(6-6) and (6-4). Hinson led Central Florida in scoring for Deltona with a 28.9 ppg average as a sophomore before migrating to Kansas. The 2020 list includes Hillcrest Prep’s

(6-6, Soph.), pegged No. 2 by Future 150; and Bishop Snyder’s

(6-6, Soph.), No. 35 by Rivals. Aspire’s (6-10, Jr.), a native of Nigeria, is ranked No. 3 by ESPN in the Class of 2019. Adair County of Kentucky has

(5-11), ranked as the nation’s No. 1 freshman by Future150.com.

Mali native (6-10) from Sunrise is listed as the No. 2 ninth-grader by 247Sports and by Rivals as one of the top sophomores. That confusion is a sign of the times. International prospects often arrive with transcripts not up to U.S. standards and some players opt to reclassify from one graduating class to another.

Admission is $10 per day or $25 for a three-day pass.

Orlando is the 10th of 20-something stops on a tour that tipped off in Connecticut last month and has already taken teams to Arizona, New York City, Canada and four locales in Southern states. West Oaks will play a second Grind event, the Gator Alley Showcase, in Gainesville on Jan. 27-28.

Oak Ridge and Orlando Christian Prep join a national No. 1 team, Memphis East (8-0), in next week’s City of Palms Classic boys basketball tournament in Fort Myers.

Memphis East (8-0), coached by former Orlando Magic standout

is rated No. 1 by MaxPreps ahead of Montverde Academy.

Oak Ridge plays John Marshall of Richmond, Va., in the first round on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and with a win figures to meet Memphis East in a Thursday-night quarterfinal at Florida SouthWestern College.

Pioneers coach said injured 6-foot-6 Texas A&M signee

could play for the first time this season in Fort Myers.

OCP plays Wesleyan Christian of High Point, N.C., at 1:45 Tuesday in its openinground COP game.

Wildwood, last season’s Class 1A state runner-up, makes a single-game appearance, playing Monday at 7 p.m. against Fort Myers Canterbury. Kissimmee Osceola, the reigning 9A state champ, also plays once in a Signature Series game against another defending champ, 2A Miami Christian, on Thursday of next week at 5:15 p.m. The tournament concludes Saturday, Dec. 23, with a 7:30 p.m. championship game.

Lake Highland Prep announced Friday that will step down as girls volleyball coach at her alma mater at the end of the school year. She will relocate to South Carolina after coaching the Highlanders boys volleyball team in the spring.

The Highlanders compiled a 126-64 girls record under Fleming’s watch, including state runners-up in 2013, 2016 and this season. She started for three Lake Highland Prep state championship teams (2004-06), then played on three SEC title teams in her four years at Florida.