CHRIS GILLIAM
Sports Editor
Magnolia has drawn a tough first-round opponent in the upcoming King Cotton Holiday Classic at the Pine Bluff Convention Center.
The event will tip off Monday at the Pine Bluff Convention Center and run through next Wednesday.
Ben Lindsey's Panthers will square off against Cardinal Ritter College Prep of St. Louis, MO.
Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m.
Cardinal Ritter is the back-to-back Class 5A State Champions in the state of Missouri.
A Magnolia victory will put them in the first-round game on Tuesday against either Pine Bluff's White Hall or Hunington, La.
A loss will have the Panthers playing the third game on Tuesday night in the in the loser's bracket.
The 16 boys teams comprise the strongest field in their division since King Cotton was relaunched after a 19-year hiatus in 2018.
This will be the third edition in this stint of the tournament, which was canceled last year amid covid-19 concerns. And it will also include a four-team girls division, with Watson Chapel and Sylvan Hills the lone Arkansas entries. King Cotton has maintained a tradition of drawing UA recruits, like Magnolia senior shooting guard Derrian Ford, the state's third-ranked player and reigning Arkansas Gatorade Player of the Year who was the Class 4A state tournament MVP in 2019 and 2020.
Nick Smith Jr., who led Sylvan Hills to a Class 5A quarterfinal win over Pine Bluff last March, is the topranked player in the state this year and also committed to the Razorbacks. The five-star senior prospect has transferred to North Little Rock, where his classmate Corey Washington is drawing looks from UA Pine Bluff, UA Little Rock and Ouachita Baptist University.
UAPB reportedly has eyes on Parkview senior guard/ forward Cameron Wallace and Watson Chapel junior guard Khamani Cooper.
• Beaumont (Texas) United senior small forward Terrence Arceneaux has committed to the University of Houston
• Antioch (Tenn.) Cane Ridge small forward Brandon Miller, the state's top-ranked player, is considering the University of Alabama, University of Kansas, Tennessee State University and the NBA G League
• St. Louis Christian Brothers senior shooting guard Larry Hughes Jr. is the son of retired NBA star Larry Hughes, who played in the league from 1998-2012, and the No. 7-ranked player in Missouri
• Parkview small forward Dallas Thomas is the No. 1-ranked sophomore in Arkansas
• And White Hall sophomore Jai'chaunn Hayes is the top-ranked freshman in the state.