Boardwalk Basketball Classic Unveils New Court

WILDWOOD — The boys’ and girls’ basketball teams from Wildwood and Wildwood Catholic High Schools unwrapped one Christmas present early.
On Dec. 18 the players unveiled the new basketball court in the Wildwoods Convention Center that will get officially broken in during the annual Boardwalk Basketball Classic tournament. But after they peeled away the tarp, the teams got the chance to take the court on a test drive, performing lay-ups and other basketball drills.
“The new court purchased by the Boardwalk Basketball Classic is a beautiful addition to the Wildwoods Convention Center, and we’re looking forward to seeing it be used during this year’s Boardwalk Basketball Classic tournament,” said John Siciliano, executive director of the Greater Wildwoods Tourism Improvement and Development Authority.
The court already has an impressive history, as it is the same court used for the 2009 NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament in Indianapolis. It has been played on by many great teams over the course of the Midwest Regional Tournament, including Michigan State, who advanced to the 2009 NCAA Final Four.
Ernie Troiano Jr., Boardwalk Basketball Classic chairman, talked about the history of the tournament and took time to recognize and thank everyone who has helped make the event a success and how it was the first of its kind in the Wildwoods.
The inaugural 1998 tournament originally consisted of 36 basketball games held December 26-30 and was held in the old Wildwood Convention Center. Since its inception, the event has moved to the Wildwoods’ new state-of-the-art convention center and has grown to become the largest single-venue coed high school basketball tournament in the country, with close to 80 games.
It draws approximately 100 schools from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New York, Virginia and Delaware over its twelve years. Through the years, the tournament has featured dozens of Division I college basketball players and several more players who went on to compete at the Division II and Division III college levels.
The Boardwalk Basketball Classic is a non-profit event that raises college scholarship money for graduating seniors for the two high schools that host the annual tournament: Wildwood and Wildwood Catholic. To date, the Boardwalk Basketball Classic has raised over $250,000 in scholarship money since its inception in 1998.