(Portsmouth, Ohio) The Route 33 Challenge: Southeast Ohio’s newest and biggest high school boys basketball exposure event of the year! Colleges from across the country are tuning in and it will be a one of a kind event you do not want to miss. It is designed to follow suit of what other basketball media outlets have been doing in the time of COVID, especially in Dayton, Cincinnati, and most notably Columbus. It will take place at Logan High School’s Chieftan Fieldhouse from 2-4 pm on Saturday, September 19th. I have teamed up with Zach Fleer, from 270 Hoops, and Carson Francis, from Southeast Ohio Hoops, to invite 36 of the best high school boys basketball prospects from Southeast and Eastern Ohio to compete in this “open-run”. The event will be live-streamed to college coaches to watch, and many will use this event to evaluate, and possibly recruit, prospects in this part of the state.
The reason I am doing this is simple: Players from this part of the state simply do not have the same exposure opportunities as players from Dayton/Cincinnati/Columbus etc. Especially with COVID and the uncertainty of sports beyond football, I wanted to provide an opportunity for players to be seen by coaches and hopefully get their names out there. The model of the event is similar to how Zach Fleer has run his open-runs in Columbus. At least 20 prospects from Columbus have received new scholarship offers as a result of his events, and I wanted to give Southeast players a chance to be seen with the same goal in mind. My wife is from Adams County, which is the area where some of these players are from, and after going to games during the previous four years of high school basketball season, it is apparent college coaches do not always make their way down to this area of the state. This event will give those college coaches a chance to watch players from these areas. Joe Burrow, who plays for the Cincinnati Bengals, comes from this same area and we actually have a player from Athens High School planning on attending the event as well!
The event will be live-streamed allowing coaches to watch live or at a later date. The link to watch will be available on 270 Hoops YouTube Channel for coaches, as well as other spectators. There will also be a spreadsheet roster with contact info., as well as player info., provided for the coaches. There is no shortage of opportunities for exposure, as I have around 70 colleges/universities committed to either attending the event or watching the event live. About half of the schools are within the state and half are out, reaching as far as California and Texas who will be tuning in to watch this event. Today I even received word from the University of Dayton’s Assistant Coach that they would like to receive the link and will be tuning in to watch. Other notable schools include Wright State, Toledo, Cincinnati, NKU, and many more!
My hope is that at least one player receives a scholarship offer from this event which, to me, will constitute success.
Tony Peters
Prep Hoops Ohio
