Wheaton Warrenville South's Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Tournament

Wheaton Warrenville South has hosted a Martin Luther King Jr. Basketball Tournament for the past three years. The tournament, which started with only 8 teams in 2013, has now grown into a 16 team tournament, where each participating team automatically plays four games against some of the best competition in Illinois. Teams that have come to compete in the tournament include Benet Academy, Waukegan High School, Champaign Central High School, Notre Dame, and Hinsdale South. There have been many future Division I athletes competing in the tournament and some well-known college coaches have been seen scouting at the tournament, including Bruce Weber, Kansas State University head basketball coach.

This is a one-of-a-kind tournament in Illinois that takes place on the Saturday and the Monday of MLK weekend. This year the tournament will take place on January 16th and 18th all day with the first games tipping off at 10:00 AM. The excitement of this tournament has even spread to other states with Columbus North High School of Columbus, Indiana, joining the field next year.

The money raised at the tournament helps to cover the costs of the tournament referees, scoreboard and book workers, t-shirts for every athlete competing, and the hospitality room. Any extra money after the tournament costs goes directly to the basketball program to help cover the costs for our athletes’ jerseys, game shorts, shooting shirts, and warm ups that they get to keep. It also helps to defray the travel costs that teams incur for winter tournament games in Bloomington over the holiday break.

One of the most exciting aspects of this tournament is how it brings the school and the community together. Over the past few years, there have been hundreds of volunteers ranging from students at Wheaton Warrenville South, parents of the athletes, and many Wheaton Warrenville South educators. These volunteers have been responsible for running the concession stand, taking tickets at the entrances, playing host for all of the 16 schools, hosting the hospitality room for the coaches and referees, and helping to keep everything clean and organized during the entire weekend. Volunteer coaches and educators each donate about 30 hours of their personal time over the three-day tournament weekend. This event further highlights our unique and dedicated Wheaton Warrenville South teaching staff, its students and the community . When we all work together, great things can happen.

Come join us on Saturday, January 16th and Monday, January 18th all day in the Orange and Black Gym and Horsley Gym at Wheaton Warrenville South High School for some high energy, highly competitive high school basketball. See you there!