Madison Square Garden will be hosting a high school basketball event after all.
The Dick’s Sporting Goods High School National Tournament — formerly known as the ESPN National High School Basketball Invitational — will come to the Garden the first week in April, offering New York a nationally televised eight-team boys and girls tournament featuring some of the best programs in the country.
The New York State Federation does not allow its teams to play in the ESPN-sponsored and invite-only event. The first year, the PSAL sent Lincoln and Murry Bergtraum despite the state’s stance, but no local team has gone since.
This news comes on the heels of the Garden deciding not to host the PSAL Class AA boys and girls championship games — as first reported by The Post on Monday — for the first time since 1990 because of scheduling conflicts.
A source told The Post the PSAL finals and this national tournament have nothing to do with each other. The PSAL has yet to decide where it will play its title games. Barclays Center would seem to be an appealing alternative, but a source said as of now there are no plans for the new arena to host the games.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will be held elsewhere in the city, with the finals at the Garden on April 5. The fields will be announced in March at the conclusion of the high school basketball season. The games will be carried live on one of ESPN’s networks.
“High school basketball has a long and rich tradition at Madison Square Garden as we have hosted some of the game’s legendary players including: Lew Alcindor, Bob Cousy, Nancy Leiberman-Cline, Connie Hawkins as well as NY Knicks Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony,” Joel Fisher, MSG Sports executive vice president, said in a statement. “We are excited to host the boys and girls finals of the Dick’s Sporting Goods High School National Tournament, the premier high school basketball tournament in the country.”
Last year’s boys field included seven teams that finished at the top of the final USA Today Super 25 poll including No. 1 Montverde (Fla.), No. 2 St. Benedict’s Prep (N.J.), No. 3 Findlay Prep (Nev.), No. 6 Prime Prep (Texas), No. 12 Ely (Fla.), No. 21 La Lumiere (Ind.) and No. 23 Oak Hill (Va.). Montverde topped St. Benedict’s in the final at Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda, Md.
“We’re extremely excited about it,” St. Benedict’s Prep coach Mark Taylor said. “We’re looking forward to it if the opportunity arises for us, and we’re going to do everything in our power to be in it.”
He continued: “Hopefully they’ll want a host school or a local school and we have the ability to go.”