Seven members of the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League’s Scholastic League are participating as a tournament partner for the 2026 event. Those teams will play several games counting in its Scholastic league standings and a few will also take on local teams.
Coming with them to play in those games are many of the top four- and five-star prospects of the sophomore, junior and senior classes in the country.
“Each year we try to ‘out-do’ outselves from the year before with regards to the level of talent participating and I think we have achieved that again,” FTTH found and president Eric Horstman said. “With 10 5-star and 20-plus 4-star players on one court over the weekend, our fans will get to see some high-level talent that will eventually be playing professionally.
“As of last week, we will have 5 of the top 20 teams in the nation in Dayton over the MLK weekend.”
Three players ranked in the top-25 of the 247Sports Composite as of Wednesday and listed as five stars are participating at this year’s event.
The top rated player of the group is Arafan Diane of Iowa United (Utah). The 7-foot, 1-inch, 290-pound center is the top ranked player at his position and 14th overall ranked recruit in the country. He is signed to play at Houston.
Alex Constanza of SPIRE Academy is the 20th ranked recruit in the country and No. 2 player in Ohio. He is signed to play at Georgetown. Jaxon Richardson with Southeastern Prep out of Orlando, Fla., is the 22nd ranked prospect and fifth overall small forward in his class. He holds several power conference offers but has yet to commit.
Other top-ranked recruits that have been rated as four stars include:
- No. 32 Ikenna Alozie of Dream City Christian (Ariz.), committed to Houston
- No. 55 Tarris Bouie of SPIRE Academy (Alabama)
- No. 56 Jacob Webber of La Lumiere (Ind.) (Purdue)
- No. 62 Anthony Felesi of Utah Prep (Pittsburgh)
- No. 67 Katrelle Harmon of Wasatch Academy, Utah (Creighton)
- No. 68 Jonathan Sanderson of La Lumiere (Notre Dame)
Four-star recruits include:
- No. 75 Aiden Derkack, the brother of Dayton’s Jordan Derkack, from SPIRE Academy (Providence)
- No. 81 Chidi Nwigwe of Wasatch Academy
- No. 90 Collin Ross of SPIRE Academy (VCU)
- No. 99 Jackson Kiss of Utah Prep (Iowa State)
- No. 122 Gan-Erdene Solongo of La Lumiere (Notre Dame)
Margaretta features three-star Dayton signee Julian Washington and local fans can see the senior play on Jan. 19 at the event.
More five-stars that are 2027 recruits also will be present. Southeastern Prep features the top-two ranked juniors in the country, 6-foot-10 C. J. Rosser and 7-foot-0 Obinna Ekezie Jr., and also has No. 23 Beckham Black on the roster.
SPIRE has No. 11 King Gibson, and Dream City Christian has No. 13 Malachi Jordan.
Four-star juniors include No. 28 Tyran Frazier and No. 55 Godson Okokoh of Iowa United, No. 32 Devin Cleveland of La Lumiere, No. 70 Joshua Tyson and No. 143 Bryce Curry of Lakota West, No. 78 Keaundre Morris and No. 85 Chris Brown of Dream City Christian, No. 81 Darrell Davis of SPIRE, No. 87 Marri Wesley and No. 122 Griffin Starks of Southeastern Prep, and No. 90 Trevor Manhertz of Christ School (N. C.)
Top ranked sophomores include four stars Mateen Cleaves Jr. of Dream City Christian, Stra Zelic of Wasatch Academy, and Keonte Smith of Northridge.
More than 100 players have competed at past FTTH events and have gone on to play in the NBA.
2026 Beacon Orthopaedics Flyin’ to the Hoop Schedule
Friday, Jan. 16
6:30 p.m. — Dream City Christian (Ariz.) vs. Wasatch Academy (Utah)
8:15 p.m. — SPIRE Academy vs. Reynoldsburg
Saturday, Jan. 17
11:30 a.m. — CATS Academy (Mass.) vs. Dream City Christian (Ariz.)
1:15 p.m. — Cincinnati Wyoming vs. Huber Heights Wayne
3 p.m. — Lima Senior vs. Brunswick
4:45 p.m. — Wasatch Academy (Utah) vs. Cleveland St. Ignatius
6:30 p.m. — Southeastern Prep (Fla.) vs. Lutheran East
8:15 p.m. — Fishers (Ind.) vs. Centerville
Sunday, Jan. 18
11:30 a.m. — Utah Prep (Utah) vs. CATS Academy (Mass.)
1:15 p.m. — Iowa United (Iowa) vs. Dream City Christian (Ariz.)
3 p.m. — Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary vs. Cincinnati Moeller
4:45 p.m. — La Lumiere (Ind.) vs. Lakota West
6:30 p.m. — Upper Arlington vs. Kettering Alter
Monday, Jan. 19
11:30 a.m. — Christ School (N. C.) vs. Iowa United (Iowa)
1:15 p.m. — Margaretta vs. Northridge
3 p.m. — La Lumiere (Ind.) vs. Utah Prep (Utah)
4:45 p.m. — Warrensville Heights vs. Kettering Fairmont
6:30 p.m. — Indian Hill vs. Tri-Village
When: Jan. 16-19, 2026
Where: Trent Arena, Kettering
Tickets: www.flyintothehoop.com/tickets.asp. $11 general admission per day, $21 reserved seating per day, $68 general admission three-day pass, $123 reserved seating three-day pass
For more information: 937-704-9670 ext. 112, www.flyintothehoop.com
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