At the rate the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is going, it might as well change the Spalding Hoophall Classic all together.

Instead of playing annually on the weekend of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, reschedule it for March.

If the Hall keeps attracting the top teams in the country, it might as well determine a national high school champion.

That's the type of talent the Hall of Fame is getting at the tournament which runs Friday through Monday at Springfield College.

Eight of the Top 25 boys teams in the country as ranked by USA Today, including No. 1 Mater Dei (Calif.), will play over the course of three days.

And the top two boys players and 22 overall from the ESPNU Top 100 will showcase their skills during the weekend.

The Hoophall Classic kicks off Friday with four games, highlighted at 7 p.m. by the matchup between defending girls Division 1 state champion Northampton and Mater Dei, which is ranked second in the country.

The action picks up Saturday with six games, with the featured match between Oak Hill Academy (Va.) and South Atlanta (Ga.) at 4:30 p.m. Oak Hill (19-0) is ranked fourth while South Atlanta (13-1) is 15th.

Sunday's six games features five prep schools from New England, as Tilton School (N.H.), Hotchkiss School (Conn.), Winchendon School, Brewster Academy (N.H.) and Worcester Academy will take the floor.

St. Anthony (N.J.) and legendary coach Bob Hurley kick off Monday's schedule against Putnam City (Okla.) at 10 a.m.

Senior Xavier Henry of Putnam is the No. 1 player in the country, according to ESPNU. The 6-foot-6 shooting guard has committed to Memphis.

St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.) faces Wheeler (Ga.) at noon followed by Lincoln (N.Y.) and LeFlore (Ala.) at 2, and Whitney Young (Ill.) and Mater Dei at 4. Senior Marcus Jordan, son of Michael, is a 6-2 shooting guard for Whitney Young.

There are other seniors to keep an eye on.

Derrick Favors of South Atlanta is rated No. 2 by ESPNU. The 6-9 power forward is undecided about his college choice.

Fourth-rated DeMarcus Cousins of LeFlore is a 6-9 center who is also undecided, as is seventh-rated 6-5 shooting guard Lance Stephenson of Lincoln.

There are also some top-rated underclassman in the field.

Junior Tristan Thompson is a 6-9 power forward for St. Benedict's, rated third and headed to Texas.

Sophomore Myck Kabongo of St. Benedict's is rated 15th. The 6-1 point guard is also headed to Texas.

The University of Massachusetts has routinely had its players in the mix and this year is no exception. Hargrave Military Academy has a pair of players headed to UMass. Freddie Riley is a 6-5 shooting guard and Sampson Carter is a 6-7 small forward. Hargrave plays Brewster Academy at 6 p.m. Sunday.

WERENSKI COMMITS - Richy Werenski of South Hadley is taking his golf game to the next level.

He made a verbal commitment Tuesday to play Division I golf at Georgia Tech, which finished the fall season ranked 10th in the country by Golfweek.

"Georgia Tech was one of my last visits," Werenski said Wednesday.

"When I visited it was above all other visits. It clicked for me."

Werenski also considered Vanderbilt, Virginia, Duke, Kentucky and Nevada-Las Vegas.

"I wanted to get the process over with," Werenski said. "A lot kids start late."

Werenski, a junior at Hank Haney International Junior Golf Academy in Hilton Head, S.C., recently has enjoyed quite a bit of success.

Since 2007 the 17-year-old placed first in the International Junior Golf Tour (IJGT) events at Cyprian Keyes Golf Club in Boylston and at Reynolds Plantation. He finished second at the American Junior Golf Association John Deere Junior All-Star, the USGA Junior Qualifier in Dedham and the PGA Junior Series in Lexington, Ky.

Werenski has a total of four victories in three seasons on the IJGT. He also placed sixth at the U.S. Junior Amateur Championship last summer and advanced to the round of 32 in match play.

Werenski is ranked 25th on the AJGA Polo Golf Junior ranking, 21st by Golfweek and 28th on the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.

THROUGH THE GATES - Kirsten Huff of Gateway Regional placed first overall Tuesday, finishing the giant slalom course at Berkshire East in Charlemont in 29.52 seconds.

Sally Marcus of Amherst Regional was third in 30.62.

Huff is first overall with 60 points on the season.

NEARING 1,000 - Four area girls basketball players are closing in on 1,000 career points.

Alannah Driscoll-Sbar of Northampton is the active leader. The senior forward is averaging 17.3 points per game this season and has 883 career points.

Her classmate and teammate Jenny Bell is at 10.6 points per game and has 790 career points.

In Amherst, junior guard Alyssa Leonard is scoring 17.2 points per game this year and has 832 career points.

Easthampton senior center Allyson Rannikko is averaging 16.7 points per game and has 754 career points.

ALUMNI EVERYWHERE - When the Westfield State and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts women's basketball teams square off on Tuesday, recent Hampshire County girls basketball players will be extremely well represented.

Westfield State features local graduates Katie and Lauren Sylvain (Hopkins Academy), Erica Hunter (Hopkins Academy) and Cassy Jouannet (Frontier Regional).

Also, former longtime Frontier Regional boys and girls coach Jack Zabek is an assistant with the Owls, who are 11-3 this season.

MCLA's players include three Hampshire Regional graduates in Ali Leveille and Chelsey Burke of Southampton and Jade Prickett of Westhampton, as well as Molly Broda of Southampton, who attended Holyoke Catholic. The Trailblazers are 9-4 this season.

The game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. at Westfield State.

Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.