The Hoophall Classic is the marquee event on the high school basketball calendar and annually brings the country’s best talent to Springfield, Mass. The 2026 edition might have the best collection yet.
This year’s event will take place from Jan. 15-19, 2026, with most of the games being played at Springfield College’s Blake Arena. For the first time in the event’s history, it will expand with games at Western New England University and Duggan Academy to accommodate what Hoophall said is a record number of marquee matchups and top-ranked talent.
The talent features nearly 100 ESPN nationally-ranked recruits across the boys and girls classes of 2026, 2027 and 2028. From a national perspective, the weekend will be highlighted by head-to-head matchups between the No. 1 and 2-ranked boys recruits in both the 2026 and 2027 classes on Martin Luther King Day; top-ranked juniors Marcus Spears Jr. (Dynamic Prep) and Bruce Branch III (Prolific Prep) will face off before top-ranked seniors Tyran Stokes (Notre Dame) and Jordan Smith (Paul VI) square off. The full list of nationally-ranked players at the 2026 Hoophall Classic can be found here.
There will be a strong New England flavor, too. Among the best teams representing the region are: Newman, featuring nationally-ranked seniors Quinn Costello and Lucas Morillo; Brewster Academy, including highly-touted junior Antonio Pemberton and nationally-ranked sophomores Michai White and Kevin Wheatley; and Notre Dame (West Haven), led by Arkansas commit Abdou Toure.
