Mizzou’s nationally ranked No. 1 recruiting class for 2025 will be well represented at this weekend’s Norm Stewart Classic at Mizzou Arena. The Classic, now in its 18th year of showcasing some of the nation’s top high school basketball talent as it honors the winningest coach in Mizzou history, tips off at 11 a.m. Friday and concludes with a 10 p.m. game on Saturday.
There will be 17 games played on Norm Stewart Court at Mizzou Arena. The Classic also raises funds for Coaches Versus Cancer, an organization Stewart founded.
“There’s a lot of talent in it again this year,” said Brad Hayes, who has directed the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association event for ten years. “There will be some of the smallest schools in the state to guys who are going to be in the NBA. It’s an unusual event.”
Hayes, who also runs the Sophie Cunningham Classic at Columbia College in January, as well as other annual and ongoing prep basketball showcases, works year-round on some aspect of the Norm Stewart Classic, whether scheduling the teams, making teams’ travel arrangements, or coordinating video and livestream coverage of the games.
Scheduling some of the teams that have the top high school and incoming Division 1 players is a massive chore, but Hayes consistently brings the cream of the national crop to Columbia for the Classic.
Eight Norm Stewart Classic players are currently in the NBA or WNBA. That list includes Cunningham, who plays alongside Caitlin Clark for the Indiana Fever, and former Mizzou standout Michael Porter Jr., a member of the Brooklyn Nets. Another twenty-one players currently on Division 1 rosters – including five Mizzou Tigers – also played in the classic. The nineteen high school stars who are coming to this year’s Classic and have made commitments to D1 schools include:
Jason Crowe Jr., Mizzou; Toni Bryant, Mizzou; Aidan Chronister, Mizzou; Jimmy McKinney, Mizzou (also considering Marquette, Iowa, Iowa State, St. Louis U., Southeast Missouri State, and Southern Illinois); Kain McCaskill, Southern Illinois; Leon Powell, Southern Illinois, Southeast Missouri State, Jacksonville, and the University of Illinois Chicago; Ethan Brown, Illinois; Johnny Jordan, University of Nebraska; Jesiah Buchanan, Southeast Missouri State; Quentin Coleman, Wake Forest; Sekou Cisse, multiple offers and recently ranked as the No. 64 recruit in the country; Kingston Money, Kent State and Duquesne; Gassim Toure, St. Louis U., Duquesne, University of Central Florida, Ohio, and St. Bonaventure; Wyatt Slay, Southern Illinois; Eathan Knox, Florida State, Florida International, California, and Mississippi State; Alex Davis, California, Mississippi State, Mercer, University of Texas El Paso, and North Carolina State; Traymaine Belanger, California, Arizona State, Washington, and San Francisco; Yale Davis, New Orleans, Florida International, and Florida Atlantic; and Tra Aleem, Arkansas Pine Bluff, Arkansas State, and Tennessee State.
Hayes said this year’s Classic will also feature at least three high school freshmen who are already considered among the top ninth graders in the nation. He expects that recruiting and reporting buzz will grow around those players as a result of their appearances in the Classic.
Participating high schools include: North Shelby, Jamestown, Granite City (IL), Union, Linn, Owensville, Warrensburg, Capital City, Pembroke Hill, Rolla, Principia, Little Rock Central, Chaminade, Putnam City North (OK), Centralia, Eldon, Kipp KC, Moberly, Bishop Miege (KS), Tolton, Warrenton, Boonville, Marquette, Jefferson City, Vashon, The New School (AR), Zephyrhills Christian Academy (FL), Inglewood (CA), and Cardinal Ritter.
The Norm Stewart Classic was started by the legendary coach and Gary Filbert, Stewart’s college roommate. Filbert, who also started Missouri’s Show-Me State Games, was Stewart’s assistant coach for a time at MU.
“They wanted to have a showcase for basketball, and they suggested that it be run by the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association,” Hayes said, “and along the way they also wanted to raise money for various charities.” The organizations benefiting from the Classic are Coaches Versus Cancer, Special Olympics Missouri, and the Ronald McDonald House in Columbia.
Following tradition, the opening games feature the North Shelby girls and boys teams. The small Class 1 school is Stewart’s alma mater.
“If it wasn’t for Shelbyville, there’d be no Norm Stewart or Norm Stewart Classic,” Hayes said. “That whole town pretty much shuts down and comes.”
And that’s an aspect of the Classic that Hayes hopes is not overlooked. While the event regularly features future collegiate and NBA or WNBA stars, the schools and communities that participate – and their players – get an unforgettable experience.
“For some of them, that’s their dream when they’re 10 years old – to play for MU at Mizzou Arena,” he said. “And for a lot of them, this is the only chance they’ll ever get to play on that court. I would say it’s an even bigger deal for the kids who get to play in an environment like that, and they’re not going to be NCAA or professional players.”
Hayes also recalls the four years when the Classic featured forty-eight straight hours of basketball.
“I run into some people who still tell me that playing at 2 a.m. or 4 in the morning was the most fun they ever had,” he said, adding with a laugh, “but it’s always the players. Never the coaches.”
Here’s the schedule for this weekend’s classic.
To purchase tickets for the Classic, click here.
By the Numbers – The Norm Stewart Classic Through the Years
2007: 4 games, 1 day at Columbia College.
2008 to 2015: 15 games in one weekend at Columbia College.
2016-2018: 48 straight hours of basketball at Columbia College.
2019: 48 straight hours of basketball at Mizzou Arena.
2020 and 2021: COVID. Norm Stewart Classic cancelled.
2022-2023: 26 games, Mizzou Arena.
2024: 24 games, Mizzou Arena.
Dec. 5-6, 2025: 17 games, Mizzou Arena.
