The Roundball Classic, originally known as The Dapper Dan Roundball Classic (also known as Magic Johnson's Roundball, Sonny Vaccaro's Roundball Classic, EA Sports Roundball Classic, Asics Roundball Classic) is well known in the sports world as the first national high school All Star basketball game.Hanging 'em up. Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports January 22, 2007 It was sponsored by and used as a fundraising event for the Dapper Dan Charities in Pittsburgh. The inaugural game was played at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on March 26, 1965.
History Founding The cofounders of the game, Sonny Vaccaro and Pat DiCesare, were two boyhood friends from the small Western Pennsylvania town of Trafford.IT'S A BASKETBALL TOWN. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - Friday, March 14, 1997 Vaccaro was a young school teacher and sports enthusiast who in the early 1960s had organized local high school basketball tournaments throughout Pennsylvania. His friend and college roommate Pat DiCesare (future president of DiCesare Engler Productions) had made a name for himself by promoting major concert events in Western Pennsylvania.From Beatles to Broadway, DiCesare-Engler has booked it all. M. Snively. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. 12/22/1994 Vaccaro wanted to do a basketball tournament in the Pittsburgh area, and asked DiCesare if he had interest in promoting the event. DiCesare, who had just brought the Beatles to the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, wanted the event to have national appeal and take place in a large venue. So, he encouraged his friend to recruit the best players in the country. The two friends decided that the game would feature high school All-Star players recruited from Pennsylvania against those recruited from the rest of the United States, and it would be played at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena.
Tim Tormey, a friend and business mentor to Pat DiCesare, initiated a meeting between DiCesare and Al Abrams. Abrams was the senior sports editor for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the president of the Dapper Dan Club, a charitable organization associated with the Post-Gazette. Having Abrams involved meant sponsorship for the game as well as months of sports coverage in the Post-Gazette leading up to the game. Abrams agreed to have the Dapper Dan Club sponsor the game, but DiCesare had to guarantee Abrams that he would cover any monetary losses and that a portion of the proceeds would go the Dapper Dan Club charities. DiCesare booked a date for the first game to be played on March 26, 1965, at the Civic Arena.
The first game suffered a major recruiting loss when the premier recruit in the nation, Lew Alcindor (later known as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) declined their offer to play in the game. His coach would not allow him to play. Otherwise, Vaccaro had succeeded in getting big time high school talent from Pennsylvania and the rest of the United States. The format for the first game featured the National All-Stars vs. the Pennsylvania All-Stars at 9pm with a preliminary game that featured the Western Pennsylvania All Stars vs. City Catholic All-Stars game at 7pm.Rounball Event Slated At Arena. The Valley Independent. Monessen PA. p 9 More than 10,000 fans attended the first game.
Growth In the early years, the game quickly gained greater media coverage and a bigger fan following. The game was important for recruiting purposes as hundreds of colleges coaches and even pro scouts attended the game.New Castle News. Looking for Another Malone: Pros to scout Roundball Classic. 3/31/1975. P 22. An All-star Named Tom Is The Most Dapper Dan. April 13, 1970. Curry Kirkpatrick. It was known to be the "premier high school basketball attraction in the entire nation".4th Roundball Classic is a strange one. Bob Vosburg. New Castle News. 4/1/1968. p. 20.
The most popular years were in the 1970s and early 1980s with a record crowd of almost 17,000 fans in 1977.Memories of Western Pennsylvania by Lisa A. Alzo, Alby Oxenreiter. p. 86 In 1985 the matchup was slated as the East US All-Stars vs. the West US All-Stars. Some believed that changing the format and eliminating the Pennsylvania All-Stars compromised the attendance of the game.ROUNDBALL NEEDS TO RECREATE ITS PAST. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - Sunday, April 19, 1992. RICH EMERT The attendance declined slightly in the mid to late 1980s, but the game still received national attention. It was well represented by all of the major recruiting figures in college basketball, and well respected in the sport of basketball.https://assets.espn.go.com/dickvitale/vcolumn010408roundball.html Vitale describes The Roundball ESPN continued to broadcast the game yearly. Ultimately, the game was hurt by the emergence of other high school All Star games that followed – most notably the McDonald's High School All-American Game that began in 1977. Also, the NCAA enacted a rule that restricted athletes to play in only two All-Star games.
Decline and end The game suffered two major losses in the early 1990s when both Nike and the Dapper Dan Club pulled their sponsorship. With DiCesare's blessing, Sonny Vaccaro moved the game to Detroit in 1993. The 28th Annual Roundball Classic was the last to be played in Pittsburgh on April 11, 1992.
The demand for the game in Pittsburgh was great enough that the Civic Arena in cooperation with Pat DiCesare continued doing a high school All-Star basketball game with Asics as a sponsor and utilizing player recruiters from local colleges.IT MIGHT BE CALLED THE ROUNDBALL CLASSIC, BUT THE GAME ISN'T THE SAME Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - Sunday, April 4, 1993 Author: MIKE WHITE, POST-GAZETTE SPORTS WRITER As expected, the Pittsburgh game could not get the talent that Vaccaro was able to get in Detroit. The last game in Pittsburgh was played in April 1994.ROUNDBALL CLASSIC IS DISCONTINUED. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (PA) - Wednesday, February 1, 1995
Vaccaro took the game to Detroit in 1993 where it became known as Magic Johnson's Roundball Classic. The game was played there for 7 years. It was moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 2000 until it finally was moved to Chicago in 2002 (the 2001 edition was held at the Welsh–Ryan Arena in Evanston, Illinois) where it was simply named "The Roundball Classic". The game continued to have successful years after Pittsburgh. Most notably, it sold out the United Center in Chicago in 2003 when the game featured LeBron James, gathering an attendance of 19,678, the highest in Roundball Classic history, beating the previous record of 16,649 established in 1977. The last game was The 43rd Roundball Classic2007 Roundball Classic played in Chicago in 2007.
Game results Year Result Attendance1965 Pennsylvania 89, U.S. 76 10,3341966 U.S. 114, Pennsylvania 106 9,5871967 U.S. 97, Pennsylvania 88 10,7001968 U.S. 103, Pennsylvania 90 13,2661969 Pennsylvania 74, U.S. 67 13,3801970 U.S. 87, Pennsylvania 81 13,4021971 Pennsylvania 110, U.S. 98 13,5921972 U.S. 97, Pennsylvania 88 13,2071973 U.S. 87, Pennsylvania 74 13,6001974 U.S. 77, Pennsylvania 76 13,0921975 U.S. 107, Pennsylvania 96 13,3331976 U.S. 105, Pennsylvania 93 16,1661977 Pennsylvania 98, U.S. 92 16,6491978 U.S. 105, Pennsylvania 100 16,3551979 April 5 (Semifinals):U.S. Southwest 97, Pennsylvania 92U.S. East 111, U.S. Midwest 1058,081April 6 (Finals):U.S. East 109, U.S. Southwest 95U.S. Midwest 109, Pennsylvania 9114,5391980 U.S. 89, Pennsylvania 87 16,3611981 U.S. 108, Pennsylvania 73 15,5121982 Pennsylvania 91, U.S. 85 14,3261983 U.S. 123, Pennsylvania 121 12,7701984U.S. 105, Pennsylvania 98 13,2831985 U.S. 114, Pennsylvania 97 11,6211986 U.S. North 96, U.S. South 94U.S. East 98, Pennsylvania 96 8,3091987 West 110, East 99 12,3251988 East 121, West 10014,0421989 East 96, West 8412,3781990 East 111, West 9711,6551991 West 104, East 10310,1011992 East 105, West 10210,9091993 West 131, East 9514,2571994 East 141, West 13510,1211995 West 114, East 9912,1831996 West 127, East 11713,4121997 West 124, East 106 14,1631998West 135, East 11613,7581999 West 146, East 13710,3272000East 146, West 131N/A2001 East 151, West 1485,7122002 East 115, West 103 7,3592003 West 120, East 119 19,6782004East 124, West 11015,4212005West 136, East 11914,5982006West 118, East 10210,3842007West 144, East 1239,865
Wins by team Pennsylvania vs. United States format Team WinsUnited States15Pennsylvania5
East vs West format Team WinsWest12East9
MVPs Pennsylvania vs. United States format
After the game two MVPs were named: one for the Pennsylvania team and one for the U.S. team. In 1979 and 1986 three U.S. selections played (East, Midwest and Southwest in 1979; East, South and North in 1986).
YearTeamPlayerHigh School (state)1965PennsylvaniaSimmie HillMidlandUnited StatesBernie WilliamsDeMatha Catholic (MD)1966PennsylvaniaSam IacinoFarrellUnited StatesCalvin MurphyNorwalk (CT)1967PennsylvaniaDick DeVenzioAmbridgeUnited StatesJim McDanielsAllen County (KY)1968PennsylvaniaDennis WuycikAmbridgeUnited StatesTom RikerSaint Dominic (NY)1969PennsylvaniaMark GianfrancescoWilkinsburgUnited StatesNick WeatherspoonCanton McKinley (OH)1970PennsylvaniaTom McMillenMansfieldUnited StatesDwight JonesWheatley (TX)1971PennsylvaniaJimmie BakerOlneyUnited StatesCampy RussellPontiac Central (MI)1972PennsylvaniaJoe BryantJohn BartramUnited StatesPhil SellersThomas Jefferson (NY)1973PennsylvaniaJeep KellySchenleyUnited StatesAdrian DantleyDeMatha Catholic (MD)1974PennsylvaniaBrad DavisMonacaUnited StatesMoses MalonePetersburg (VA)1975PennsylvaniaRodney LeeEdisonUnited StatesPhil HubbardCanton McKinley (OH)1976PennsylvaniaSonny LewisSchenleyUnited StatesJay ShidlerLawrenceville (IL)1977PennsylvaniaEugene BanksWest PhiladelphiaUnited StatesWes MatthewsWarren Harding (CT)1978PennsylvaniaBruce AtkinsWilkinsburgUnited StatesWalker RussellPontiac Central (MI)1979PennsylvaniaBill VarnerValleyUnited StatesSidney Green (East)Thomas Jefferson (NY)Leon Wood (Midwest)Saint Monica (CA)Dominique Wilkins (Southwest)Washington (NC)1980PennsylvaniaTony CostnerOverbrookUnited StatesVern FlemingMater Christi (NY)1981PennsylvaniaVic AlexanderBenjamin FranklinUnited StatesPatrick EwingCambridge Rindge and Latin (MA)1982PennsylvaniaChip GreenbergLa SalleUnited StatesRichard RellfordSuncoast (FL)1983PennsylvaniaRico WashingtonBenjamin FranklinUnited StatesPearl WashingtonBoys and Girls (NY)1984PennsylvaniaJunie LewisAbingtonUnited StatesCedric HendersonMarietta (Georgia)1985PennsylvaniaDoug WestAltoonaUnited StatesRod StricklandOak Hill Academy (VA)1986PennsylvaniaRod BrookinSteeltonUnited StatesElander Lewis (East)Albany (NY)Eddie Cumbo (South)Wheatley (TX)Anthony Pendleton (North)Flint Northwestern (MI)
East vs. West format