Villanova may not have been able to defend its NCAA title this year, but Wildcats fans have plenty of reason to be excited about next year. Wildcats commit Jeremiah Robinson-Earl was named tournament MVP after leading IMG Academy (Bradenton) to the GEICO Nationals championship on April 6. The 6-foot-9 power forward helped IMG do what it couldn't do at the Culligan City of Palms Classic this past December, when IMG fell prey in the quarterfinals to Mountain Brook (Alabama).
It happened again.
 
For the third straight year and the 13th time overall, a Culligan City of Palms Classic alum has won the McDonald's All American Boys Game MVP. This year, it was Cole Anthony of Oak Hill Academy (Mouth of Wilson, Virginia) coming away with the honors after his all-around performance.

The USA Today All-USA Boys Basketball Player of the Year won't be attending college next year.
 
Instead, he'll be back in high school, because the award winner is junior Sharife Cooper of City of Palms champ McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia). The quick 6-foot point guard put up eye-popping numbers, averaging 28.6 points, 8.7 assists, six rebounds and 4.1 steals a game for the 32-0 Indians, who won the school's first state championship.
The Culligan City of Palms Classic is where champions play. One out of every three teams in this season's tournament went on to capture either a state or national championship, and a remarkable 16 of the tournament's 27 teams reached their state final four. IMG Academy (Bradenton) won GEICO Nationals, but at the stacked City of Palms, IMG didn't make it out of the quarterfinals, losing to Mountain Brook (Alabama), one of eight City of Palms teams crowned state champions this year. Another was City of Palms winner McEachern (Powder Springs, Georgia), which ran through its season unbeaten and won its first-ever state title. Razor-thin margins separated two more City of Palms teams from winning states, as Woodrow Wilson (Washington, D.C.) lost on a buzzer-beater and Olive Branch (Mississippi) fell by just two points.
The NCAA Tournament final went to overtime this year, giving fans five extra minutes of college basketball before Virginia finished off Texas Tech. But as overtime finals of championship games go, the game hardly came close to the triple overtime thriller at the 1989 Culligan City of Palms Classic.
 
Fans gathered at Fort Myers High School to watch one of the most star-studded games the City of Palms had up to that point. One finalist, Flint Hill (Falls Church, Virginia), boasted future ACC stars Randolph Childress (Wake Forest), Cory Alexander (Virginia) and Serge Zwikker (North Carolina).

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