Well, maybe not the whole nation, but a big part of the college basketball nation will be making the trek to Hiland High School later this week and many more will be watching what happens at the fourth edition of the Classic in the Country.

The matchups promise to be compelling and, if history is an indicator, eventual state champions will be on display (All four of Ohio's 2006 divisional state champions played in the CitC). But the biggest draw this year will be the abundance of talent in the Class of 2008.

“Nationally, from the college coaches to the top national services, Ohio is considered to have the best and most abundant class in 2008,” Ohio Girls Basketball Report's Tom Jenkins said.

Eleven of Ohio's top 12 juniors as ranked by CitC co-organizer Ohio Girls Basketball Report (named the No. 1 single-state scouting service in the nation by the college coaches for five straight years) and the Playground Report will be competing.

In all, 23 of the top 25 juniors as ranked by OGBR and 16 of the top 25 as ranked by the Playground Report will be competing.

With more than 100 Division I coaches in attendance in 2006, the abundance of talent is sure to bring the coaches back in 2007.

“Ohio's just got a lot of big-time players,” Bret McCormick of the national scouting service All-Star Girls Report said. “I think (Ohio) has a lot of good high school coaches. Sometimes you have good AAU but not good high school. Ohio has a lot of good high school and AAU coaches.”

As the new year rolled around, McCormick lists Amber Gray of Lakota West as his No. 8 junior nationwide with Regina's Shay Selby No. 10 and Eastmoor Academy's YaYa Dunning No. 12. And he adds in players like Africentric's Tyeasha Moss and Alesia Howard and Chaminade-Julienne's Tiera Stephen.  “These are all top-50 kids,” McCormick said.

“What's got me excited is you take the top national services, JayBee (Bethea's) Playground Report and OGBR, the common denominator of all four classes is that you have 78 percent of the top girls playing in the Classic,” Jenkins said.

That all these girls are from the same state and playing in the same event isn't lost on McCormick who recently returned from another event where teams came in from other states and some of the games still just weren't that good.

“The thing about Classic in the Country, you look at the schedule and what other state could you go to to have this many good games with teams from within the same state?” McCormick said.

“So it's out in the country — so what!” is how McCormick responds to any coach who thinks Berlin might be a little hard to find. “Where else can you go and see all these teams?”

“I'd have to compare this to (Ohio's) 2003 class which had 103 Division I signees and had five McDonald's All-Americans,” Jenkins said. “I'm not saying this class has five McDonald's All-Americans but it has the biggest group of Division I prospects. It's an extremely strong power forward and post class.”

The junior class isn't the only one well-represented at the Classic. OGBR's rankings have 16 of the top 25 seniors, 17 of the top 25 sophomores and 14 of the top 25 freshmen playing as well.

The high-caliber players have a great showcase to display their talents.

“The best thing about it is, it's funny, but it's Berlin,” McCormick said. “A lot of events, there's a good crowd when the host team plays (and not for the other games). That's not the case in Berlin — they love basketball in that area. It's always a great crowd.

“I remember the first year they did it, Amber Gray was just an eighth-grader. Her team was playing Hiland's eighth-grade team in the morning. There was a line of about 400 people to watch an eighth-grade game.”

Beginning 10 a.m. Saturday the 13th through Monday the 15th, basketball aficionados can experience the best that Ohio girls basketball has to offer.  See you at the Reese Center