Nearly half of 2015 Beach Ball Classic field complete
Midway through the final day of the 2014 Beach Ball Classic, Executive Director John Rhodes was already nearly halfway through his commitment list for next December.
Wednesday, Rhodes said contracts have been extended to Mater Dei (Calif.), Poca (W.V.), St. Edward (Ohio), St. Francis (Ga.), Shadow Mountain (Ariz.), Myrtle Beach and Socastee. Members of the Beach Ball committee will be visiting several other events in the coming months while looking for the top teams around the country to fill out the bracket.
“You’ve got more tournaments coming about,” Rhodes said. “We still have to sell our wares like any traveling salesman. The nice thing is you can have a coach pick up to the phone to another coach who has been here and we feel confident they’re going to get a positive recommendation.”
Next year’s tournament will be the 35th edition of the Beach Ball Classic. Some of those aforementioned commitments have helped shaped the history of it even prior to next December.
St. Edward, a participant this season, won the 2006 tournament. Shadow Mountain and coach Mike Bibby – who until this week held a pair of scoring records – will return.
Mater Dei finished fifth in 2005 and second in 2001, and St. Francis won the Consolation Championship of this year’s Beach Ball on Wednesday.
Rhodes specifically mentioned teams he was in talks with, including long-time notable New York program Christ the King, although nothing else has been finalized yet. Bishop Gorman (Nev.) already has a contract to return in 2016.
Host programs Socastee and Myrtle Beach will also continue their runs, even though organizers and the schools’ coaches themselves have admitted to the uphill battle they face each year.
“Coming into the tournament, you’re playing a first-round game against Bishop Gorman,” Socastee coach DeAndre Scott said. “They have kids committed to Kentucky and Duke. We try to concentrate on the little things and getting better at those. As the tournament goes on, you see what other teams are going to do.”
Said Rhodes: “They just don’t have the talent level to compete. The thing is, what experience will they gain from it. Even though they may lose by 30-40 points, you see as a coach what you have to work on to get to the next level. It’s unfortunate we’re not surrounded with that big-time talent in this area to pull from. But I don’t think not allowing them to play in this is fair to the kids.”
Myrtle Beach and Socastee combined to go 0-6 this week, although each team won a game last year. This time around, the Braves’ three losses came by an average of 41 points per game, and Scott’s team wasn’t done any favors by the bracket.
Socastee faced Scott County (Kent.) and North Little Rock (Ark.), the latter of which won back-to-back state titles. The Braves also opened the tournament against Bishop Gorman.
“Our kids have been looking at Stephen Zimmerman clips on YouTube for two months now,” Scott said, referring Gorman’ 7-foot center. “As far as the kids, they love it. Our kids are so excited every year when the schedule is released.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2014 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Nearly half of 2015 Beach Ball Classic field complete."