 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DRAFT - December 1, 2009
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52nd WHATABURGER TOURNAMENT ANNOUNCES TEAMS, DEBUTS FIRST-EVER GIRLS DIVISION
Holiday basketball tradition attracts national spotlight, scouts and top talent
(FORT WORTH, Texas) – For the first time in the 52-year history of the Whataburger Basketball Tournament, a girls division will heat up competition amongst the tournament’s 48 teams. The new 16-team division will pit nationally known talent against some of Texas’ top small school girls’ teams. This year’s tournament is set for Monday, December 28, through Wednesday, December 30, and boasts 21 teams ranked in the top 20 in the state by the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC). Three nationally renowned teams, California’s Long Beach Polytechnic High School boys and West Anchorage, Alaska, boys and girls’ teams, are also set to compete in front of college scouts and national media. In 2005, Sports Illustrated named Long Beach Poly the “Best Sports High School in the Country.” “We are absolutely thrilled to include girls in this year’s tournament. We’ve considered adding a girls division for years and had the new division set in less than two weeks,” Tournament Director Tom Rogers said. “We look forward to seeing the same passionate fans and diehard competition we see from the boys’ divisions and expect some heated matchups. This tournament is one of the finest in the country and gives teams all over Texas and the nation to compete in front of major college scouts in a high spirited arena.” Sports Illustrated and USA Today have called the Whataburger Basketball Tournament one of the nation’s top five holiday high school tournaments. In the past, the tournament has featured high profile teams from across the nation like Oak Hill Academy and Los Angeles Crenshaw. Not only are players featured, but coaches and scouts scope out talent and future potential for colleges like the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and University of Texas at Austin. “Competitions like this are part of the fun of sport and high school. Whataburger is proud to have a long history with an event as prestigious as this and we welcome the fresh talent and thrill the girls’ teams will bring to the tournament,” said Preston Atkinson, Whataburger President and COO. “These athletes’ success shows their passion for the sport and the dedication of all the people that support them.” The Whataburger Basketball Tournament began as a small fundraiser for Fort Worth’s West Side chapter of the Lions Club and is now one of the most anticipated events in high school basketball featuring 48 boys and now girls’ high school basketball teams in three divisions, orange and two blue divisions. Each division plays at a different site in the Fort Worth area: 5A and 4A boys teams in the orange division play at the 5,000-seat W.G. Thomas Coliseum of Birdville Independent School District; the boys blue division consists of small schools classified as 1A, 2A, 3A or private schools and plays at the 2,000-seat Haltom High School; the girls blue division includes schools from 1A to 4A and private schools and plays at Saginaw High School’s 2,600-seat gym. Ticket information: Individual tickets: $6 (Monday, Dec. 28); $7 (Dec. 29 and 30); Season Pass: $17 for access to one venue for all three days; All Venue: $30 for access to all three venues for all three days; Tickets are available at various price levels at all venues during the tournaments. Participating teams follow below. For additional tournament history, team information, brackets and specific player statistics, please visit www.whataburger-bbt.org. During the tournament, scores, game schedules and scores will be updated on this site, as well as Facebook and Twitter, as they are available.
Orange Division Teams:
West Anchorage, AK (#1 in Alaska 4A in April 2009)
Long Beach Poly, CA (#2 in California 5A)
Arlington Martin
Austin Westlake (#5 in 5A)
Coppell
Dunbar (#7 in 4A)
Flower Mound Marcus (#20 in 5A)
Haltom
Irving
L.D. Bell
Mansfield
Mansfield Summit
North Crowley (#17 in 5A)
Northwest
Plano West (#7 in 5A)
Richland Boys Blue Division Teams:
Abilene Wylie
Argyle
Brock
Brownsboro
Burkburnett (#12 in 3A)
Cayuga (#1 in 1A)
Cleveland (#6 in 3A)
Fairfield
Fort Worth Christian
Liberty Christian
Navasota (#10 in 3A)
Peaster
Ponder (#4 in 2A)
Princeton
Tuscola Jim Ned (#10 in 2A)
Van Girls Blue Division Teams:
Abilene Wylie (#3 in 3A)
All Saints
Argyle (#2 in 3A)
Brock (#1 in 2A)
Cayuga
Cleveland
Dallas Bishop Dunne (#19 in TAPPS)
Fairfield (#10 in 3A)
Liberty Christian (#8 in TAPPS)
Nolan (#10 in TAPPS)
Peaster (#3 in 2A)
Princeton (#17 in 3A)
Saginaw
Springtown
Tuscola Jim Ned (#10 in 2A)
West Anchorage, AK (#4 in Alaska 4A) About Whataburger
Family-owned Whataburger has focused on its fresh, made-to-order burgers and friendly customer service since 1950, when company founder Harmon Dobson opened his first Whataburger restaurant in Corpus Christi. The small, wooden stand sold the enormous burgers for 25 cents each, and before the first week was out, lines stretched down the street. Today, the company has nearly 700 locations in 10 states and is headquartered in San Antonio, Texas. Visit whataburger.com for more information on the company. (END)
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