The Kentucky Exposition Center announced that the Red State Blue State Series game scheduled for March 3 at Freedom Hall has been canceled. The game was to feature Monteverde Academy and Huntington Prep. If you hold tickets, go back to your point of purchase for a refund.
This marks another blow for the series. In February, a double header was scheduled to take place at Broadbent Arena. Those games pitted Louisville’s Ballard against Metuchen, New Jersey’s St. Joseph’s and Chicago’s Whitney Young against Cordova, Tennessee’s Evangelical Christian. It was canceled three days before the event.
Those earlier contests would have featured University of Kentucky recruit Karl Towns as well as potential Wildcat Skal Labissiere. Towns has already had a taste of the John Calipari coaching style as a member of the Dominican national team in 2012.
The University of Louisville would also have representation in the game from point guard Quentin Snider who has committed to the Cards. Another player, Jahlil Okafor, has offers from UK and Louisville.
As a way to pump up the March game, you could have participated in a buy one get one program to attend both dates. And even with the February game canceled, organizers had planned on honoring the March tickets.
In the newest cancellation, 6’11” UK recruit Dakari Johnson from Monteverde Academy won’t get a chance to showcase his talent for Wildcat Nation. Louisville native D’Angelo Russell also plays there and has yet to commit to a college program, though the Cats and the Cards are in the hunt for his services.
On the other side of the ball, the nation’s top recruit Andrew Wiggins plays for Huntington Prep. He gets top marks from ESPN, Rivals.com, Scout.com and 247Sports.com. Wiggins is currently undecided.
The Red State Blue State Series was born as a high school showcase for for hoops crazy fans to get their first looks at potential Louisville and Kentucky recruits. No reason for either cancellation is posted on their website, though organizer Clay Dade told the Courier-Journal that they never found a title sponsor for the event.
Illustration: redstatebluestateseries.com
