One of the most anticipated events on the Caldwell County sports schedule will not be returning this winter.
The West Kentucky Hoops Classic, which has annually drawn top high school basketball teams from around the southeast and the midwest to Princeton, is not on the 2025-26 hoops schedule.
The Hoops Classic can trace its roots back to 2014. Then known as the Caldwell County Hoops Classic, the first event brought in four in-state boys’ teams and four girls’ teams for a round-robin competition over two days.
When the Hoops Classic began, it was the first local holiday basketball event for Caldwell County since the final Druther’s Holiday Classic in 1998.
The event was rechristened the West Kentucky Hoops Classic in 2017. Behind the efforts of local businessman Torey Hammett, the Classic became a two-day showcase that brought in teams from Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri and North Carolina.
Since that time, schools from Indiana, Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Alabama and Georgia also made their way to Princeton to play at the CAB gymnasium.
The gym’s scoring record was set during the West Kentucky Hoops Classic in 2019 when Kam Woods of Pinson Valley (Alabama) pumped in 49 points in an 84-82 victory over North Little Rock (Arkansas).
No Hoops Classic was held in 2020 because of Covid.
Weather literally stopped play in 2022. Snow and ice resulted in most of the event being canceled. Only two games were completed, with school officials halting action when the weather worsened in the first half of the third game and sending everyone home.
Caldwell County boys’ head coach Chuck Mitchell confirmed on The Sideline Report on WPKY Radio Thursday morning that the West Kentucky Hoops Classic was not continuing…
