Dave Thorson's team is no stranger to the Corn Palace.
DeLaSalle High School returns to Mitchell's venue today to participate in its fifth consecutive Mike Miller Classic.
"We have felt that the Mike Miller Classic, on all fronts, has been really positive for our team," Thorson said Friday. "We love the hospitality that we have gotten from the Mike Miller Foundation. Now that we have made this trip for a couple of years, we have felt that this trip has made our team better."
Thorson's team features Minnesota signee Jarvis Johnson, North Dakota signee Josh Collins and sophomore Goanar Mar, who has received offers from Iowa State and Nebraska. Sacar Anim is also being recruited by Division I programs.
DeLaSalle has been a crowd favorite over the last five years and recently graduated Reid Travis, who is a freshman and starting forward at Stanford.
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But the Islanders aren't the only ones boasting talent at the Fifth Annual Mike Miller Classic, which Cleveland Cavalier forward and Mitchell native Miller will not be attending because he's in season. La Lumiere and Findlay Prep -- two top 10 programs -- are also in the mix of featured teams. La Lumiere was ranked seventh in the latest USA Today high school basketball poll, while Findlay Prep was No. 4.
For four years, the Mike Miller Classic has been held solely at the Corn Palace. However, this year's event features a second location, along with the additional tournament. The first day of the tournament is today at the Corn Palace, followed by a second day of action on Monday at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.
The "Coach Gary Munsen Tournament" features two games during Session 1 in Mitchell, with one more game during both Session 2 and Session 3. Teams competing in the tournament portion of the event are Sioux Falls Washington, Evangelical Christian School (Tenn.), Mitchell High School and DeLaSalle (Minn.). The winner of the tournament championship game, which will be played at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Sanford Pentagon, will take home a trophy.
"With two schools that are nationally ranked and the championship game for the Gary Munsen tournament, the final session makes for a wonderful night of basketball," said Ernie Kuyper, president of the Mike Miller Foundation.
Nationally known coach, players
Along with the familiar faces of DeLaSalle, many others will take the floor today and Monday.
It all begins with the opening game of the "Coach Gary Munsen Tournament." Evangelical Christian School is led by head coach Terry Tippett, who has coached for 45 years at five schools in Tennessee. He has won more than 800 games and six state championships.
La Lumiere, which has five players who are 6-foot-5 or taller, and Findlay Prep have several players on the radar of top-tier Division I programs. La Lumiere's Isaac Humphries a 7-foot junior, has offers from Illinois and Arizona, Brandon Cyrus has offers from Arizona State, San Diego State and California and Nolan Narain, a 6-foot-9 junior, has offers from Vanderbilt, Xavier, Kansas State, Gonzaga and others. There are other La Lumiere players who have received college offers.
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Findlay Prep is led by 6-foot-5 senior guard Allonzo Trier, who has committed to play for Arizona. Justin Jackson, a 6-foot-8 guard/forward, has committed to the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, and Horace Spencer, a 6-foot-8 forward, who has committed to Auburn.
