Field announced for 2018 Slam Dunk to the Beach

The Delaware Sports Commission announced the full schedule and participating teams for the 2018 Slam Dunk to the Beach basketball tournament, set to return to Cape Henlopen High School Dec. 27-29. The lineup includes two of the Top 25 teams in the country and many of the nation’s top players. 

This year’s event will feature 13 teams from around the region and nation, and four teams from the host state of Delaware. The top players as rated in the latest 247Sports rankings include: Jonathan Kuminga (Our Savior New American), Khalil Whitney (Roselle Catholic), Jeremy Roach (Paul VI), Julian Strawther (Liberty HS), Symir Torrence (Vermont Academy) and Anthony Harris (Paul VI).

“We are so excited about it being year five for the revival of Slam Dunk to the Beach. As always, the quality of the teams and players for this year’s edition of Slam Dunk are first class,” said Dr. Matthew Robinson, chairman of the Delaware Sports Commission.

Tickets are on sale now at http://www.slamdunktothebeach.com/.

The 2018 field of participating schools includes:

• Archbishop Wood HS (Warminster, Pa.)

• Albany Academy (Albany, N.Y.)

• Bishop Loughlin HS (Brooklyn, N.Y.)

• Bishop Walsh HS (Cumberland, Md.)

• Caesar Rodney HS (Dover)

• Cape Henlopen HS (Lewes)

• Eleanor Roosevelt HS (Greenbelt, Md.)

• Gonzaga College HS (Washington, D.C.)

• Hudson Catholic HS (Jersey City, N.J.)

• Liberty HS (Henderson, Nev.)

• Our Savior New American School (Centereach, N.Y.)

• Paul VI HS (Fairfax, Va.)

• Roselle Catholic HS (Roselle, N.J.)

• Salesianum School (Wilmington)

• Sanford School (Hockessin)

• Vermont Academy (Saxtons River, Vt.)

• Westtown School (West Chester, Pa.) 

"We are very excited to attend Slam Dunk to the Beach this year,” said Liberty High School head coach Stefan Berg. “It is a terrific event with great history! We are looking forward to playing against some great teams and the competition the event offers each year.”

The iconic tournament has hosted many future NBA and college superstars over the years, and since returning in 2014, Slam Dunk to the Beach has welcomed in the next generation of basketball’s best. The most recent wave of talent has included 2018 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Donte DiVincenzo (2014) and the sixth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft Mohamed Bamba (2017, 2016, 2015).

Making a return to Lewes for the first time since 2016, Paul VI leads this year’s group in the national rankings. The MaxPreps Preseason Top 25 ranks the Panthers as the 11th best team in the nation. 2016 Slam Dunk to the Beach All-Tournament team selection Jeremy Roach is back after impressing the Cape Henlopen crowd with 40 points in two games as a freshman two seasons ago.

Rounding out the MaxPreps Top 25 at the 25th spot are the Roselle Catholic Lions, making their fifth consecutive appearance at the beach. Leading Roselle is this season’s highest-rated participant, Khalil Whitney. The nation’s seventh-ranked player in the senior class has already committed to Kentucky, making him the fifth Slam Dunk player to commit to John Calipari in the last five years.

Locally, this season’s event welcomes four of the top teams in Delaware. Earlier in 2018, Cape Henlopen and Salesianum made up the first- and second-ranked teams, respectively, in the DIAA Boys’ Basketball Tournament, while Caesar Rodney made the second round and Sanford advanced all the way to the state semifinals.

The DSC also announced the matchups for the 2018 Slam Dunk, which breaks down into day and evening sessions featuring three games in each session.

The tournament begins with Delaware’s top two teams from the 2017-18 regular season, as Salesianum and Caesar Rodney tip off at noon, Thursday, Dec. 27. At 6:30 p.m., Gonzaga College will be making its first appearance at Slam Dunk to the Beach since playing in a 2014 double-overtime instant classic against Roselle. This time the Purple Eagles will take on Albany Academy.

The full schedule, with start times for all 18 games, can be found at slamdunktothebeach.com.

For more information on the tournament, follow @SlamDunkToBeach on Twitter and Facebook at Slam Dunk To The Beach.