Tickets are already sold out for the Chipotle Clash of Champions at Wintrust Arena where California’s Sierra Canyon Trailblazers boys basketball team will face off against the undefeated Glenbard West HS Hilltoppers, according to Ticketmaster.
Ticket details were announced earlier this week by Paragon Marketing Group and its president Rashid Ghazi, who dropped the link on his personal Twitter page on Tuesday evening.
Led by top national recruit and native Chicagoan Amari Bailey, the Los Angeles-based Trailblazers were originally supposed to play against Simeon Career Academy HS during their February 2022 trip to Chicago.
While it’s unconfirmed why Simeon is no longer playing Sierra Canyon in the Clash of the Champions, one reason could be that they’ll be participating in a separate event on the same day, Donda Homecoming.
The TRiiBE reached out to Simeon head coach Robert Smith multiple times, but haven’t yet received a response at publishing time.
On Feb. 5, Simeon is scheduled to play Coronado High School from Nevada in the Donda Homecoming event at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena. Donda Homecoming is an event being put on by Kanye West’s California-based high school, Donda Academy. The event is scheduled to also have Kenwood Academy HS playing against Hillcrest HS, and Donda Academy playing against Chicago Prep in the headliner.
Tickets for Donda Homecoming are on sale now through Ticketmaster. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, the event hasn’t been sanctioned by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA). Since sanctioning is usually coordinated between state high school associations, the hold up could be due to the fact that neither Donda Academy or Chicago Prep belong to a high school association.
The Clash of Champions at the Wintrust Arena in the South Loop will be streaming live on Feb. 5 on ESPN+, with the Sierra Canyon vs. Glenbard West game beginning at 8:00 p.m. central. The opening game begins at 6:00 p.m. central with the Curie Metro HS Condors facing off against the Glenbard South HS Titans.
Before heading to Sierra Canyon for high school, Bailey hooped at Skinner West Elementary School on the Near West Side. On January 26, he became one of the 24 hoopers selected to play in the 2022 McDonald’s All American Game, which will be held on Mar. 29 at 5:30 p.m. at Wintrust Arena. With additional help of top 30 sophomore recruit Bronny James, aka LeBron James Jr., the Trailblazers hold the no. 2 spot in California basketball rankings and rank no. 10 nationally, according to MaxPreps.
Meanwhile, West Suburban high school Glenbard West — led by 6’11” Gonzaga University commit Braden Huff — is coming off a commanding 74-59 victory over the Whitney Young HS Dolphins on Jan. 22. This supersized Hilltoppers team, with the average height of their starters being 6’7,” currently hold the no. 1 spot in Illinois, and no. 14 nationally on MaxPreps.
We’ll keep our eyes out for updates on whether more tickets will become available soon.