It couldn't have been more fitting.

Club squad teammates for five years and storied high school rivals for four, Pleasant Grove's CJ Wilcox and Lone Peak's Tyler Haws are two of the best preps ever in Utah boys basketball history.  

Saturday night in the second game of the Feinberg Academic All-American Classic, the pair put a seal on their high school careers together as they helped the North team beat the South 83-64 in front of an audience of thousands at the Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, Calif.

The FAAAC featured the finest basketball players in the country who have also excelled in the classroom and contributed to their communities.

In this, the inaugural year of the Classic, the players chosen were high school seniors who have committed to attend a four-year institution in the fall of 2009.

This year's participants are all headed to Division I teams, including some of the top-ranked programs in the nation. In addition, the schools they will be attending include some of the country's most elite institutions.

The coach of the North All-Stars, Stephen Turner, is in his fifth year as the varsity head coach at Gonzaga College High School in Washington D.C.

He has an overall record of 112-45 and has been honored as the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for the past two seasons. His team finished in the top 10 of every national poll in 2008.

"I've done a couple of other national all-star events, but I think the most unique thing about this one is that these are high-level basketball players who demonstrate even higher IQs in the classroom," the coach said. "I'm pleased to be involved in this first event of its kind. I was impressed by all the kids and the way they handled themselves.

"They're all going to be pretty successful in life because they have prepared themselves academically to earn degrees at great universities as well as play basketball."

The emphasis of the weekend was to get participating student-athletes even better prepared for success during the next stage of their careers.

Accordingly, in addition to the games and related events, the players participated in workshops on such diverse topics as sports psychology, preparing for the NBA draft and succeeding academically in college.

In the game itself, Turner said Utah's representatives both demonstrated their readiness to continue to the next level.

"CJ is a guy who can help the team at Washington immediately," the coach said. "His athleticism is tremendous, along with his ability to knock down the long ball. He's going to surprise some people because he can lock guys up defensively and also because of his ability to get hands on balls in the passing lane.

"He has a long body and has the ability to play in multiple positions, since he can slash and get to the rim as well. He'll be known as not just a shooter. He can play the 1 to 3 spots," the cocah continued. "He does a tremendous job in transition, finding the right guy and knowing when to pull up and take a shot. He makes good decisions."

Wilcox finished the game with nine points, shooting 4-of-7 from the field and sinking one trey. He also had two assists and two rebounds.

Turner assigned him to a different rotation than Haws, so the two did not play on the court together. The team consisted of two groups of five, and they rotated every four minutes. The game was a conventional high-school length contest.

"I separated them to be able to provide for leadership for both lineups," the coach explained.

CJ played small forward but also did a lot of ball-handling, and Haws played shooting guard.

"I was very impressed with Tyler immediately in our practice. He's a shooter and there's some moxie to his game," Turner said. "He's going to be a tremendous player at the next level. I'm sure he's a guy who's known well for his shooting, but the thing people may not recognize is that he has a very strong handle and manages the ball like a point guard.

"Looking at his body, he's a kid who can contribute immediately at the collegiate level. He was very active on the defensive end and did a tremendous job getting hands on balls in the passing lane," the coach added. "He also rebounds very well from the guard spot. I would say that just shows how much of a team player he is."

Haws shot 3-of-7 and was 2-of-2 from the line for eight points, adding two rebounds and a steal.

The South team was actually the favorite in this contest, so Turner was especially satisfied that his squad not only won, but did so quite comfortably.

"One of the keys in the game for us is that early on we were able to hold the other team to one and done," he said. "We pressured the ball well, and on our end we passed well. We played team ball and did not settle for the quick shot. As proof, our team had 17 assists and also every kid on the team scored.

"Tyler and CJ both hit big shots during the runs where we were able to take the lead -- they do well in transition," the coach added. "They were two of the top five kids on the team.

"Another thing people may not recognize is the things they do off the court," Turner said. "They were both very active extending themselves to make friends and bringing the group together. They came physically and mentally prepared to play as hard as they could, even in practice, and that forced other guys to work more. They are both leaders. People will see big things from both of them for the next few years, and probably beyond."

"It was fun to meet and hang out with all the guys and to see how good people are outside of Utah," Wilcox said. "As a group, they were a lot stronger and faster and they knew a little bit more about the game. In the one practice we had, we played a little bit and got used to each other," he continued. "They knew me and Tyler could shoot since we both shot pretty well in practice.

"When we were in the game, they said 'Get ready to shoot 'cause I'm going to be looking for you.' It was cool."

BYU-bound Haws was impressed with the whole experience.

"It was awesome," he said. "There were 40 kids here from all over the place. They just took care of us the whole weekend. I was very impressed with their organization and how they just wanted to make it a good experience. They were really nice people and good kids, too. Everyone I met was a sharp, sharp kid. Lots of them are going to Ivy League schools and big-time universities.

"I was also very impressed with our team. We had a good coach who wanted guys to play hard and let us play but still wanted to win. It was cool that he wanted us to play together. We all became pretty good friends," Haws added. "I didn't know it until I came but this was the first Academic All-American game. They had lots of sponsors and a very nice arena. I think this event is just going to get bigger and bigger.

"Overall, it was just a great opportunity," Haws said. "There's always stuff you can do better and things I learned that will help me at the next level.

"A lot of guys on our team were talking about this (Saturday) night and how this really ends our high school careers. It was a great weekend to celebrate all we've accomplished and a great way to close things out," Haws concluded.

Tyler's father, Marty Haws, also praised the organizers and said it was an honor to be part of this event and to see both young men do so well.

"These games just demonstrated what Craig (Wilcox, CJ's father) and I have known for a long time. People in Utah play really good basketball. They represented themselves, Utah County and the state very well," he said.