There will be no Little Four in 2008:Now it will be the Pizza Hut Invitational when it returns in 2009

The name has changed and there are new dates too. The Little Four high school basketball tournament has had that name since 1976 but now the name will be the Pizza Hut Invitational. The new dates for the tournament will be January 1-3 and the venue will still be the same, the Greensboro Coliseum Special Events Center.

The new tournament format will be by invitation only and the Greensboro Sports Council will now be free to pick and choose who they want to bring in for the tourney. For this year, and get this there will be no tournament this year in 2008, the next tournament will be in 2009. Last year’s run was Dec. 26-28 2007 so the tournament will skip a year and move to Jan. 1-3 2009.

Gone from the tourney will be Smith and Southwest Guilford, new will be Northern Guilford and Ragsdale joining Greensboro Day, Dudley, Page, Grimsley, Northeast Guilford, and Northwest Guilford. The Smith Golden Eagles had been with the tournament since it’s inception back in 1976 as the Little Four, with Smith, Dudley, Grimsley, and Page. Now Smith is gone.

The question remains to be answered, will the Greensboro Sports Council now start seeking “Name” teams from outside the area, or will they keep the tournament strictly for Guilford County Schools? Will all the monies stay within our local schools or will the Council try and take this tournament national? They now have the ability to pick and choose who they want and will all of our Guilford County Schools still be considered?

2 thoughts on “There will be no Little Four in 2008:Now it will be the Pizza Hut Invitational when it returns in 2009

  1. well lets add some of the high point teams in this as well as Trinity and a school or schools from winston and make this the big time public school holiday tournament now. Every Coach in the triad knew northern guilford would get there way into something . Wink Wink…isnt there a connection between Northern and Ragsdale * Wink Wink*

  2. As President of the Greensboro Sports Council, let me help set the story straight. First, as the press release stated, we are committed to Guilford County High Schools. This will continue to be a Guilford County tournament and will continue to be the most successful holiday tournament in North Carolina. Second, this tournament has been an invitational tournament for many years and the Sports Council has always reserved the right to invite teams each year. Third, we are “technically” not having the tournament in 2008 solely due to the scheduling around Christmas and the fact High Schools cannot play on Sundays. Isn’t January 1, 2 & 3 close enough?! It’s still during the school winter break! Also, there is a conflict with the Coliseum and its hosting of the Southern Scuffle national college wrestling tournament. We continue to look at improving this great tradition and reserve the possibility of expanding the number of participating schools. We will also strive to make this tournament the most competitive tournament in the Triad. Fortunately, Guilford County schools have a rich tradition for great high school basketball, both girls and boys. We are lucky to have such a great pool of schools to choose from. Stay tuned!

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