Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Farmer's Union Insurance
605 Sports
Corn Palace to host all three days of Hoop City Classic, 27 games set for 2023 event
Action from the 2022 Hoop City Classic at the Corn Palace.
(Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

Corn Palace to host all three days of Hoop City Classic, 27 games set for 2023 event

Aug 25, 2023
  

By Ryan Deal 

605 Sports

MITCHELL — The Corn Palace is once again the exclusive home for the Hoop City Classic. 

The annual basketball event, which features South Dakota and non-South Dakota teams, is Dec. 28-30 in Mitchell. 

The Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls will not be a part of the 2023 event, and will instead host the inaugural Presidents Bowl Basketball Classic on Dec. 28-30. The Sanford Pentagon has been a part of the Hoop City Classic, formerly the Mike Miller Classic, since 2014.

Hoop City Classic Director Ernie Kuyper, a Mitchell native, said the “plans are to move forward with Mitchell the rest of the way,” in regards to future sites for the Classic. 

“We are just excited to obviously bring it back to Mitchell,” Kuyper said. “We just decided as a group that we should bring it back to the Corn Palace and do all three days there.”

Mitchell's Colton Smith, left, attacks the basket at the 2022 Hoop City Classic in Mitchell. (Rodney Haas / 605 Sports)

The 2023 event features 27 games, nine contests per day and boys and girls basketball teams from five different states. It again includes South Dakota vs. South Dakota matchups, non-South Dakota teams vs. in-state teams and national powers facing each other. 

“We’ve got some of the best matchups, in my opinion, in South Dakota,” Kuyper said. “Obviously South Dakota is playing South Dakota teams and we also got the opportunity to have a couple national games in there.”

The out-of-state teams include Minnesota’s Totino-Grace and DeLaSalle, Wauwatosa West (Wisconsin) and Cordova (Tennessee). Wyoming’s Campbell County and Thunder Basin are again in the field. 

Totino-Grace, which has won back-to-back Minnesota Class AAA state championships, will play Wauwatosa West on Dec. 29 and Kuyper said, “both teams will probably be top-25 in the country.”

The two coaching staffs have prior relationships and Wauwatosa West, a first-time participant in the Classic, reached out to Kuyper about playing Totino-Grace in the event. 

“They knew they were coming and they thought it would be a good place to play the game and play each other,” Kuyper said.  

DeLaSalle, which has been a Classic regular since its inception, will play two 2023 South Dakota state runner-ups — Class A Sioux Falls Christian on Dec. 29 and Class AA Mitchell on Dec. 30. The Islanders have won 24 Minnesota boys basketball state championships. 

“DeLaSalle has been here pretty much every year,” Kuyper said. “We are lucky to have DeLaSalle and Totino-Grace out of Minnesota. It’s a big state and they are probably the two best programs in Minnesota. We are excited to have both those teams coming over to represent Minnesota basketball.” 


Totino-Grace, which will also play Cordova on Dec. 30, is headlined by senior Isaiah Johnson-Arigu. The 6-foot-7, 190-pound small forward has received scholarship offers from Iowa, Nebraska, Arizona State, Butler, Colorado State, Drake, George Mason, Miami, Northwestern, Texas Tech, Virginia Tech and Xavier. 

The Eagles also feature 6-foot-6 sophomore small forward Dothan Ijadimbola, who has earned scholarship offers from Iowa and Minnesota, along with interest from Iowa State, Nebraska, Illinois, Butler and Xavier. 

Senior Zy'lerre Stewart, junior Chace Watley and sophomores Tyler Wagner and Tian Chatman, younger brother of current Ohio State guard Taison Chatman, are also college basketball prospects for the Eagles. 

Wauwatosa West’s headliner is 6-foot-10 four-star junior center Kai Rogers, who has received scholarship offers from West Virginia, Florida State, Georgetown, Illinois, Iowa, Iowa State, Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Minnesota, Ole Miss, South Florida, St. John’s, Texas, Wisconsin and Marquette. He was ranked in ESPN’s Class of 2025 top-60 rankings. 

Junior shooting guard Jake Hansen, who has scholarship offers from Cal Poly, St. John’s, Arizona State and Grambling State, is also a college basketball prospect for the Trojans. Wauwatosa West will also play Cordova on Dec. 28. 

Cordova is led by senior point guard K.J. Tenner, who played for Kuyper and the 17U Hoop City Basketball Club this past AAU season. Tenner has reportedly received interest from Memphis, Ole Miss and Tulane. 

“He was our point guard for the Hoop City Basketball club,” Kuyper said. “Just with my relationship with him and his family and his high school coach, we asked them and they invited them and they were just thrilled. They’ve obviously heard about the Mike Miller Classic and the Hoop City Classic and they were excited.” 

On Dec. 28, Sioux Valley boys will play Thunder Basin at 4:30 p.m. Sioux Valley is powered by 6-foot-10 senior forward Alec Squires, a South Dakota State University commit.

The first day will conclude with three Class B boys matchups between Corsica-Stickney vs. Viborg-Hurley, White River vs. Bridgewater-Emery and Howard vs. Gregory. 

On Dec. 29, Class B foes White River and Lower Brule will continue their budding rivalry at the Corn Palace. The Tigers and Sioux have played six times the past three seasons, with Lower Brule owning a four-game winning streak in the series. 

Class A boys basketball power Hamlin will play Cordova at 6 p.m., followed by Mitchell vs. Thunder Basin in another boys basketball contest. 

On Dec. 30, Tea Area and South Dakota State University women’s basketball commit Katie Vasecka will play Rapid City Christian at 9 a.m. Vasecka made national headlines this summer, when she led Sanford Sports Academy 17U Black to a title at the Nike Nationals: Tournament of Champions in Chicago.


Vasecka, a 6-foot-2 forward, finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in the championship game. She's the 59th ranked player in the Class of 2024 recruiting class by prospectsnation.com.

The Dec. 30 slate of games will conclude with Lennox vs. Waconia, Minnesota, in a boys basketball contest. Lennox is led by University of South Dakota commit Porter Ihnen, a 6-foot-6 all-state guard. 

The Hoop City Classic will also host a youth basketball tournament on Dec. 29-30 on the Dakota Wesleyan University campus. The tournament is open to boys and girls basketball teams in second-through-eighth grades. The youth players will get into the Hoop City Classic games for free. 

“We are also going to do the kids tournament at Dakota Wesleyan on Dec. 29-30,” Kuyper said. “So we are going to bring the whole show back to Mitchell. We are excited to be back where it all started.”


Thursday, December 28, 2023

9:00 – Campbell County, WY Girls vs Viborg-Hurley, SD Girls

10:30 – Campbell County, WY Boys vs Elk Point-Jefferson, SD Boys

12:00 – Thunder Basin, WY Girls vs Ethan, SD Girls

1:30 – Ethan, SD Boys vs McCook Central-Montrose, SD Boys

3:00 – Cordova, TN Boys vs Wauwatosa West, WI Boys

4:30 – Thunder Basin, WY Boys vs Sioux Valley, SD Boys

6:00 – Corsica-Stickney, SD Boys vs Viborg-Hurley, SD Boys

7:30 – White River, SD Boys vs Bridgewater-Emery Boys

9:00 – Howard, SD Boys vs Gregory, SD Boys


Friday, December 29, 2023

9:00 – Rapid City Christian, SD Girls vs Campbell County, WY Girls

10:30 – Campbell County, WY Boys vs Waconia, MN Boys

12:00 – Thunder Basin, WY Girls vs Mitchell, SD Girls

1:30 – Pine Ridge, SD Boys vs Groton, SD Boys

3:00 – DeLaSalle, MN Boys vs Sioux Falls Christian, SD Boys

4:30 – Lower Brule, SD Boys vs White River, SD Boys

6:00 – Cordova, TN Boys vs Hamlin, SD Boys

7:30 – Thunder Basin, WY Boys vs Mitchell, SD Boys

9:00 – Totino-Grace, MN Boys vs Wauwatosa West, WI Boys


Saturday, December 30, 2023

9:00 – Rapid City Christian, SD Girls vs Tea, SD Girls

10:30 – Rapid City Christian, SD Boys vs Potter County, SD Boys

12:00 – Cordova, TN Boys vs Totino-Grace, MN Boys

1:30 – Brandon Valley, SD Girls vs Thunder Basin, WY Girls

3:00 – Brandon Valley, SD Boys vs Thunder Basin, WY Boys

4:30 – Campbell County, WY Girls vs Mitchell, SD Girls

6:00 – Bridgewater Emery, SD Boys vs Campbell County, WY Boys

7:30 – DeLaSalle, MN Boys vs Mitchell, SD Boys

9:00 – Lennox, SD Boys vs Waconia, MN Boys


Winner/Colome's Landon Calhoon crushes a walk-off homer in the ninth inning at the Class B tourney.
Mason Payne's walk-off single lifts Jefferson past Yankton in extra innings
Custer eighth-grader Tenlee Stiefel clears 12-feet, 6-inches at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays
Custers' Kelsey Stiefel clears 12 feet in the girls pole vault during the Douglas Early Bird Meet