By Ben Berry

In New York City, there was more underground traffic on the subway than usual heading uptown into Queens towards the end of the M-Line.

That's because the last stop is Christ The King High School, which is hosting the first two days of the 2016 Dick's Sporting Goods High School National Basketball Tournament. The two championship games will be played in Midtown at the renowned Madison Square Garden. 

Why this particular location? Known for alumni like Lamar Odom and Speedy Claxton, Christ the King is one of the two high school basketball programs that is directly sponsored by LeBron James (the other is his alma mater, St. Vincent-St. Mary in Akron, Ohio).


Affiliated with Gatorade, GEICO and Nike in addition to its title sponsor, the tournament accepts four of the nation's top girls high school basketball teams and eight of the top boys teams with the goal of crowning ultimate national champions at the end of the season.



In its seventh year, the NBA alumni pool from previous Dick's Sporting Goods Nationals expands annually, and currently includes (in order of most recent appearance) Kelly Oubre, Jr., Emmanual Mudiay, D'Angelo Russell, Tyler Ennis, Austin Thompson, Terrence Ross and Avery Bradley.

The high school hoops talent entering the tournament is deep, with all eight boys teams ranking in the top 15 on FloHoops 25. The three-time reigning tournament champions, Florida's Monteverde Academy, are the clear favorites after finishing their season 25-1 and No. 3 on the FloHoops 25 behind Chino Hills.


Of the eight boys teams, Montverde, Oak Hill, Findlay, St. Benedicts and La Lumiere finished in the FloHoops 25's top 10. The boys division will have two rounds before the finals, and four girls teams have already been chosen for the semifinals. Both championship games will be played inside Madison Square Garden.