The basketball destinies of Pleasant Grove's CJ Wilcox and Lone Peak's Tyler Haws have been intertwined since they were in grade school.
In the first place, their fathers know each other. Although they played in different years, Craig Wilcox and Marty Haws are both alumni of the BYU basketball program.
The two boys played together on a club team with their dads as coaches starting in seventh grade and continuing through last spring, five years in all.
In addition, local hoops fans have been treated to six high-profile, spectacular contests between the two and their respective teams during the Region 4 wars over the past three seasons.
Now, the pair will head to California together May 8-10 to participate in the inaugural Academic All-American Classic.
This all-star game features high school seniors or graduated students who have committed to attend a four-year institution in the fall of 2009.
"Our selection committee did an extensive national search in quest of finding the most qualified Academic All-Americans in the country," said Robert Icart, chairman of the Classic.
An initial list of about 250 was reduced to 25 finalists. Icart said the minimum cumulative GPA for consideration is 3.0, but most of those selected have much higher averages. Haws has a 3.9 and Wilcox a 3.5.
All of the participants are heading to Division-I programs representing one of these conferences: the ACC, Atlantic 10, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Conference USA, Ivy League, Mountain West, Pac-10, Patriot League, WAC and the WCC.
Among the schools these players will attend are Stanford, Notre Dame, Harvard, Duke, UCLA, Cornell, Penn, Florida and Georgia Tech, along with BYU (Haws) and Washington (Wilcox).
"We wanted to find very, very good basketball players who have played at a high level and are heading to institutions that play at a high level, but we also wanted young men who met our academic and character criteria," Icart said. "We were looking for those involved in community service and outside activities, young men who would be equally good at something else if they were not playing basketball, and who have a pattern of life that suggests future success in whatever they choose to do.
"We want to create a culture for this event that showcases basketball excellence as part of a balanced life."
The program for the weekend reflects those ideals.
The game itself will be played May 9 at the Citizen's Business Bank Arena, which seats 10,700 and is located in Ontario, 50 miles east of Los Angeles. It will be televised and will feature 3-point shooting and slam-dunk competitions, as most all-star games do.
In addition, the players will participate in the following:
• A training session with one of the NBA's top pre-draft trainers, Joe Abunassar, whose clients include Kevin Garnett and Chauncey Billups, along with 20 of the 60 players selected in the 2008 NBA draft.
• Mental sport training sessions with Graham Betchart, a specialist in sports psychology who works with NBA and college players.
• A college performance workshop with UCLA academic coordinator Kenny Donaldson.
• A college panel board with current Division I players.
• A visit to Loma Linda Children's Hospital, where the players will have the opportunity to interact with children who have cancer and other life-threatening illnesses, some of whom are also awaiting transplants.
• A closing awards banquet.
The hospital visit, in particular, will be a focal point of the weekend. The players will bring game attire and tickets to present to the patients, and will read books with them, dribble balls or do anything the kids are able and want to do.
"We were looking for players who would embrace this opportunity to put smiles on the faces of these kids," Icart said. "We were seeking those who see basketball as a means they can use to touch the lives of others in a positive way."
