By Adam Rosenfeld

The Les Schwab Invitational, Oregon’s premier high school basketball invitational, returns for its 20th year, featuring some of the nation’s top high school talent that will soon be coming to an NBA arena near you. You can watch all of the action live on FloHoops beginning Dec. 27.

Monteverde Academy out of Florida, led by current LSU freshman sensation and 2014 tournament MVP Ben Simmons, won last year’s tournament over Oregon powerhouse West Linn. Check out Simmons in action in last year’s tournament:


While Simmons is dominating the college ranks and 2016 number one recruit Harry Giles (Oak Hill Academy) is out following an ACL tear, there is plenty of other talent  playing at the 2015 edition of the Les Schwab Invitational. Other than Giles, Oak Hill has three other players on ESPN Top 100 for 2016, including Mississippi St. commit Mario Kegler, Alabama signee Braxton Key and Penn State signee Joe Hampton.

In addition, Maryland powerhouse Dematha Catholic, featuring the nation’s #12 player Markelle Fulz (and who is of interest to Oregon fans, since he’ll be playing at the University of Washington in 2016) and Garfield High School, out of Seattle, will be joining Oak Hill as the out-of-state participants. Garfield, the defending Washington 3A state champion, will be making its LSI debut.

Oak Hill and Dematha Catholic join a long line of high school basketball powerhouses to compete in the LSI. Since the tournament began, out-of-state schools like Dominguez High School (California) , Reserve Christian (Louisiana), and Bishop O’Connel (IN) have sent teams brimming with Division 1 talent to the LSI. Dominguez won LSI titles in 2000 and 2008. Oak Hill is a five-time champion of the LSI, and Dematha Catholic last won the title in 2010.

The local flavor from Oregon to watch is last year’s runner-up, West Linn, the three-time defending state champions. Led by the top ranked player in the state and Oregon commit Payton Pritchard, West Linn will hope to rely on Pritchard to deliver heroics like this buzzer-beater from 2013 to defeat some of the nation’s top teams.

Before LSI, top Oregon basketball talent had to go outside the state to compete against the top basketball teams for the holiday tournaments.

Thankfully, Oregon Hall of Fame basketball coaches Barry Adams (then of South Salem High School) and Nick Robertson (Beaverton High School) stepped in. They proposed a plan with the Oregon High School Coaches Association that allowed Oregon high school teams to play up to four games in a preseason tournament.

In 1996, after two years of phone calls, meetings and lobbying, the Oregon Holiday Invitational was created, and renamed the Les Schwab Invitational in 2001 to honor the tournament’s largest supporter.  

The tournament was an immediate success, with teams from Alaska and California flying to the inaugural tournament to compete against some of Oregon’s top teams. Oak Hill Academy, a private school in Virginia and the alma mater of several NBA All-Stars, has been a tournament mainstay since 1997, winning five tournament titles.

Over 20 former participants of the Les Schwab Invitational have gone onto play in professional leagues, including the NFL.

Let’s take it back a few years earlier, to the 2004 tournament. Recognize the player fourth from the right, on the top row?




It’s NBA All-Star Kevin Durant, who was part of the 2004 champions, Oak Hill Academy.

How about this player, third from the top left, from the 2001 Oak Hill Academy team?




It’s Carmelo Anthony, 2001 LSI tournament MVP.

Even other non-basketball luminaries have participated in the tournament. Recognize the bulky forward, second from the top left?



Yep, its current Miami Dolphins defensive wizard Ndamukong Suh, who played in the 2004 tournament for Grant High School Generals basketball team, out of Portland.

Be sure to catch all the action live on FloHoops starting at 9 am on December 27th.