“The Schoolboy/Schoolgirl All Star Classic has been a pillar in the basketball world in Connecticut and New Jersey for decades. I feel elated that a great institution in high school basketball, the Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Classic, is staying right here in Bridgeport.”- Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch
BRIDGEPORT, CONN (April 9, 2015) – This week, Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch visited the Cardinal Shehan Center, which will serve as home to the 54th Annual Schoolboy/Schoolgirl All Star Classic basketball game. With construction of the new Jewish Senior Services building underway, a project that will bring roughly 800 jobs to Bridgeport, the game which had been held at the Bridgeport Jewish Community Center for its first 52 years was played last year at the Jewish Community Center of Greater New Haven.
This year the Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Classic, which has featured players who have gone on to have professional careers in the NBA and WNBA, returns to Bridgeport and will be played on Sunday, April 19.
“The Schoolboy/Schoolgirl All Star Classic has been a pillar in the basketball world in Connecticut and New Jersey for decades,” said Mayor Finch. “We’re excited to see it played this year in the Cardinal Shehan Center, which some people say is ground zero for basketball in Bridgeport. This game features the best high school basketball players in the State of Connecticut and some of the best basketball played anywhere in the Northeast. I feel elated that a great institution in high school basketball, the Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Classic, is staying right here in Bridgeport.”
- Click here to read about the new Jewish Senior Services project, which will bring roughly 800 jobs to Bridgeport: http://bit.ly/1ceam9Y.
Twenty-four of the top senior girls basketball players in Connecticut play an East-West, all-star game at 1:00 p.m. A game of twelve of Connecticut's top senior boys basketball players follows. The boy’s team will play against an always competitive team from New Jersey.
“Some of the best players who have every played in the state of Connecticut have played in this game. For high school fans, you’re going to see some names of players that you are going to follow in college for the next two, three, four years,” said Cardinal Shehan Center Executive Director Terry O'Connor.
Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Classic alumni includes: John Williamson, Chris Smith, Wes Matthews, Walter Luckett, Frank Oleynick, Marcus Camby, Jordan Williams, Jen Rizzotti, Heather Buck, Damika Martinez, Bria Holmes and many more.
- Click here for a New York Times article from 1996 about the history of the Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Classic: http://nyti.ms/1NWP7VY.
“This is the 54th consecutive year for the Schoolboy Classic. It is the longest running game in the country and you’ll see some of the best basketball in the region being played right here,” said Michael Rosnick, member of the Schoolboy/Schoolgirl Committee.