High school basketball alumni tournament brings Ohio stars back to court
A new high school basketball alumni tournament is launching in Ohio, bringing together former standouts from schools across the Buckeye State for a winner-take-all competition. The event, created by Dayton area natives Alex Patten and Richie Moody, is modeled after The Basketball Tournament (TBT) but focuses on high school alumni rather than college teams.
Portsmouth High School is among the teams competing in the inaugural event, with nine players from the classes of 2003 to 2024 signed up. The roster includes Ky’re Allison, Portsmouth’s all-time leading scorer and a former Marshall signee, along with Andrew Bendolph and Dion McKinley, key players from the Trojans’ Division III Final Four runs in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
What is The Alumni Tournament?
The Alumni Tournament is a single-elimination basketball event where teams of high school alumni compete for a cash prize. For 2026, the tournament features 12 teams from Ohio, with regional sites in Centerville and Findlay. The finals will be held Aug. 22-23 at Xenia’s Athletes in Action location.
“I got this idea about four years ago to bring everybody back together,” Patten said. “I got the idea from the TBT. There’s nobody out there doing a high school one — just a college one. So I took that on, and I got my partner, Ritchie Moody, involved. We’ve been hitting the ground running from there.”
The tournament is designed to be a neutral-site event to avoid favoritism. “We wanted to do it at a neutral site to limit favoritism to a particular school or team, so we’ll be at Athletes in Action for the finals,” Patten said.
Who is playing in the tournament?
Beyond Portsmouth, other teams include Dayton Dunbar, Dayton Carroll, Dayton Thurgood Marshall, Anna, Fairborn, Huber Heights Wayne, Sidney, Springfield, Trotwood-Madison, Vandalia Butler, Westerville South, and Xenia. The rosters feature notable names from Ohio high school basketball history.
Dunbar alum Daequan Cook, a former McDonald’s All-American and Ohio State star who played 13 seasons in the NBA and overseas, is committed to the event. Other Dunbar alums include Deontae Hawkins (Illinois State, Boston College) and Aaron Pogue (Cleveland State).
Westerville South alums Andre and Kaleb Wesson, both former Ohio State players now playing professionally overseas, are also on the roster. Huber Heights Wayne features Ahmad Wagner, who played basketball at Iowa and football at Kentucky, and D’Mitrik Trice, a former Wisconsin standout.
Sidney has Andre Gordon, who played at Texas A&M under Buzz Williams. Trotwood-Madison has Amare Davis, who played at Wisconsin-Green Bay, Missouri, and Wright State. Thurgood Marshall has Mark Alstork, who averaged 19 points per game at Wright State in 2016-17, and Harlem Globetrotter ‘Jumpin’ Joe Ballard, who has a reported 52-inch vertical.
What are the plans for future tournaments?
Patten aims to expand the tournament to 64 teams with eight regions in 2027, with a $50,000 cash prize for the winner. Portsmouth will host the Athens Regional in 2027. Promotion for that event is set to begin in October 2026.
“We don’t quite have 64 this year, but we’ll have 64 next year,” Patten said. “We’re still going to have the tournament this year.”
Long-term, Patten envisions a national tournament with champions from each state competing in a “champions tournament.” Tennessee is scheduled to launch its own alumni tournament in 2028, with other states like Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, and New York expressing interest.
“I want to make sure that Ohio goes right,” Patten said. “I don’t want to do multiple states at once and fail at them all. We’re doing Ohio first. Tennessee will be the next one, and that will be scheduled for 2028.”
How can I follow The Alumni Tournament?
For more information, visit The Alumni Tournament website at thealumnitournament.com or follow the tournament’s Facebook page.