"Tom Lee and Holly Troyer have taken a great deal of the burden off of us by taking over two of the projects," said Schlabach.  "Tom Lee heads up the crew that feeds every player here at the event.  Holly is in charge of the food stand, and each of them has 50 volunteers working under them.  They schedule and organize everything.  Those kinds of things are taken completely off of our plates, and they are run with great efficiency."

Tom Jenkins, who along with Schlabach and North Canton Hoover coach Paul Wackerly came up with the guidelines for the Classic in the Country Challenge several years ago during a two-day, all-day pow-wow in Jenkins' basement, said that in three short years, the event has gone from being their event to being the community's.

"This is so unbelievably exciting to watch," said Jenkins.  "Some how, some way, between the school administration, Dave's staff, the sponsors and all of these volunteers, this thing gets done without a hitch.  It is really exciting to see the way this community has gotten behind this and made it their own.  To see it so firmly established as a national tournament so quickly is a tremendous tribute to the people here."

How much has the Classic grown in its three short years?

According to Jenkins, USA Today named it one of the three top high school events in America (in any sport); all three top national scouting services will be in attendance, including Kevin Powell of Roundball Journal, Mike White of All-Star Girls' Report and Chris Mennig of Blue Star Index; Mary Thompson, head of women's basketball marketing for NIKE will also be on hand.

"That's a pretty impressive list," said Jenkins.  "Those guys won't just show up for no reason."

College coaches are flying into both the Holmes County Airport and Akron-Canton Airport from all over the nation.  The NCAA has posted the event on its website.  Close to 150 colleges are expected to show up for the weekend, which is an amazing number considering that the Classic is going on right in the heart of the college season.

What began in the basement of Jenkins' home has now become a national phenomena, and it is only possible because of the people who will wear the gray knit shirts this weekend.

"I've had several coaches ask me to help them organize their own tournament and help them get started," said Jenkins.

"Each one of them tells me that they only want to be No. 2, because they won't be able to top this one. The magic that this event evokes simply would not be there anywhere else.  This is a one-of-a-kind, and it's because of people who are unselfish, a staff that is willing to work very hard, sponsors who will back it and because of what Perry Reese Jr. meant to these people.  It all adds up to one magical Martin Luther King Jr. weekend."

Jenkins went as far as to say that while the weekend is not here yet, the event is officially out of his hands and in the hands of the community.

"We can focus on 2007 now and not worry about this year's edition. because it's in very good hands," said Jenkins.

"These people take pride in doing this right.  I told Dave after the very first year, we don't own this anymore -- the community does."

"You've got to have caring, unselfish people who don't care anything about getting any kind of credit," said Schlabach.  "I give the people here a lot of credit.  we've had to tell people that we don't need any more volunteers this year.  People are actually frustrated because they want to help in some way.  All of this has allowed the shifts to get shorter, and it gives the volunteers a chance to enjoy the atmosphere of the event more.

"We're very, very excited about the possibilities of this year and down the road, and it couldn't be possible without the volunteers.

"Each year people have gotten to where they understand more and more what needs to be done for the event to function.  The work part won't ever go away; there will always be a million things to do, but because the volunteers have become knowledgeable about what needs to happen, they take less and less time each year."