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One of the area's best basketball showcases will take place this week at Glendale High School, and there will be more Division I talent on the floor than ever before.
Link Academy will make its highly anticipated Springfield debut as the new Branson program brings one of the best high school basketball teams in the nation to play Jonesboro, Arkansas, on Thursday night.
Link Academy, with some of the best recruits in the country, will go against a defending state-champion Jonesboro team that also has Division I talent of its own.
The two-night event will take place Thursday and Friday night at Glendale High School. The event has hosted big names in the past including Trae Young and Caleb Love.
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Here's a look at who will play in this week's event. Rankings are courtesy of 247Sports Composite unless otherwise noted.
Biliew will be one of the best players at the event as he's a five-star athlete and the No. 7 recruit in the Class of 2023.
The 6-foot-8 power forward currently holds offers from Nebraska, Iowa State, Kansas and Oklahoma State. You can bet there will be a lot more interest in him before he makes his final decision.
The recent Arkansas signee is a five-star player and is ranked as the No. 26 recruit in the current senior class. He picked the Hogs over Arizona State, Kansas, TCU, Texas and others.
The 6-foot-7 small forward is one of two five-star recruits signed to play at Arkansas next season.
Bryson Warren, Link Academy
Warren is a four-star recruit who is ranked as the No. 75 player in his current junior class. He will forgo playing college basketball as he's currently committed to playing professionally out of high school.
If he were to change his mind and play college ball, the 6-foot-2 combo guard has plenty of options while holding nearly two dozen offers from some of the best programs in the country.
Julian Phillips, Link Academy
Phillips enters the showcase as the 14th-best senior in the country and as a five-star signed with Louisiana State.
The 6-foot-8 power forward held more than two dozen offers from some of the best programs in the country. He's already a projected first-round NBA Draft choice and draws comparisons to Corey Brewer.
Aidan Shaw, Link Academy
Shaw is a recent Mizzou commit who is a four-star player and is ranked as the No. 52 player in the country. The 6-foot-8 small forward was a big land for Cuonzo Martin up in Columbia.
Shaw, a senior, had plenty of options before he went with the Tigers. He could have also gone to a few Big Ten programs or Kansas and Arkansas, among others.
Tarris Reed, Link Academy
Southwest Missouri got to see Reed play with Chaminade in the Class 6 state semifinals against Kickapoo during the spring. He's a 6-foot-9 center who is hard to miss.
Michigan didn't miss him as it got Reed signed to a scholarship to play basketball in Ann Arbor. He's the No. 38 senior and a four-star player who was also looking into Michigan State, Ohio State and Purdue.
Damien Mayo, Link Academy
Mayo is a 6-foot-2 shooting guard who also left Chaminade to play at Link. He's a three-star athlete with offers from Saint Louis and Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
Trey Green, Link Academy
Green is one of Link's top available players as the No. 72 junior in the country. He's a four-star 5-foot-10 point guard with a bunch of offers.
Offers right now range from Nebraska, Boise State, Clemson, Cincinnati, Wichita State, Virginia Tech and others.
Ethan Lathan, Link Academy
Lathan is an up-and-coming sophomore prospect who is bound to receive more attention in the coming years. The 6-foot-8 center has an offer from Missouri State.
Julian Norris, Link Academy
Norris is a 6-foot-3 shooting guard who has three stars and an offer from Middle Tennessee State. He's also receiving interest from Xavier, Indiana, Houston and Evansville.
Felix Okpara, Link Academy
Okpara is committed to playing college basketball at Ohio State after he finishes his senior year. He's the No. 50 player in the country and has four stars to his name.
Before committing to the Buckeyes, the 6-foot-11 center had a dozen offers with Ole Miss, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi State being some others.
Jordan Ross, Link Academy
Ross is someone who is flying under the radar for many recruiting databases, but he's a junior point guard picking up college interest.
The 6-foot-1, 150-pounder has offers from Utah and Washington State. He's also receiving interest from BYU, LSU, Stanford and others.
Oklahoma State recently landed the signature from Williams, a 6-foot-4 small forward in the current senior class.
Williams is a four-star athlete and is ranked as the No. 91 player in the country. He's already a projected starter for the Cowboys and he picked them over Kansas State, Houston, Cincinnati and others.
Wilson is another Jonesboro Division I prospect who currently holds an offer from Arkansas State. The 5-foot-9 senior point guard could attract more attention if he puts up a big game against a roster full of elite players.
Harrell, a 6-foot-7, 180-pound small forward, is attracting a lot of interest but the offers haven't come in bunches yet. He's heard from programs like Oklahoma State, Stanford, Colorado State, Drake, Belmont and others.
Springfield's biggest recruit is currently a four-star player and the No. 105 prospect in the junior class. Area fans know how athletic Lowery is and how bright of a future he has.
Lowery, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, holds offers from Missouri State, Kansas State and Marquette.
Trevin Williams, Hazelwood Central
The 6-foot-4 guard from St. Louis is drawing college interest. He's currently a senior hoping the offers start to roll in.
Jhordan Covington Berry, Hazelwood Central
Covington Berry is another promising prospect hoping to land some offers. He's certainly got the length coaches want in a shooting guard as he stands at 6-foot-4. He is currently a junior.
Ozark Mountain Shootout schedule
6 p.m. Jonesboro, Arkansas vs. Link Academy
7:30 p.m. Shiloh Christian vs. Glendale
5:30 p.m. Forsyth vs. Golden City
7 p.m. Kickapoo vs. Jonesboro
8:30 p.m. Hazelwood Central vs. Glendale
Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or Twitter at @WyattWheeler_NL. He's also the co-host of Sports Talk on Jock Radio weekdays from 4-6 p.m.
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