Champion Durham Classic

The Durham Sports Commission presents the Champion Durham Classic, a high school basketball holiday invitational held each year in the Bull City.   

The third annual event will be held on December 26-28, 2023 at Hillside High School in Durham.

Girls Teams

School Name:	Team Name:	School Location:	School Logo:
Millbrook High School	Wildcats	Raleigh, NC
Hillside High School	Lady Hornets	Durham, NC
Charles E. Jordan High School	Lady Falcons	Durham, NC
Southern Durham High School	Spartans	Durham, NC
North Raleigh Christian Academy	Knights	Raleigh, NC
Durham School of the Arts	Bulldogs	Durham, NC

Boys Teams

School Name:	Team Name:	School Location	School Logo:
Durham School of the Arts	Bulldogs	Durham, NC
Hillside High School	Hornets	Durham, NC
Hugh M. Cummings High School	Cavaliers	Burlington, NC

Address: 3727 Fayetteville Rd, Durham, NC 27707

We are excited to host the 2023 Champion Durham Classic at Hillside High School! 

Celebrating their 100th year as Hillside, the school is a staple of the Durham community with a robust and storied history. Established before schools were desegregated in the South, Hillside is the oldest of the five remaining historically black high schools still in operation today. The school was originally named after Hillside Park, who recently had their basketball courts refurbished by FILA USA and the Tamia and Grant Hill Foundation. In addition to a complete refurbishment, the outdoor courts feature a mural by a local artist. Hillside also has many notable graduates, including 8 professional athletes and the first African-American woman mayor in Durham.

Click here to learn more about the history of Hillside. 

• Spectators are permitted to bring one small, clear bag into the facility.
• Individuals 13 years old and younger must be accompanied by an adult at the event.
• No outside food or beverage is permitted.
• No smoking of any kind or weapons of any kind are permitted on Hillside High School’s campus.
• Tickets are required for all guests age three (3) and older. Tickets are not required for children two (2) and under who sit on a parent/guardian’s lap.

Proceeds from tickets will benefit the DSC’s One Team, One Durham Fund (1T1D). 1T1D is designed to offset the rising cost of youth sports participation. Learn more about the fund and ways to support by clicking here.

The Durham Sports Commission will be hosting educational sessions on recruiting, personal branding, and name, image, and likeness (NIL) during the Champion Durham Classic. These 30-minute sessions will help student-athletes identify what’s next in their academic and athletic endeavors. We welcome all high school student-athletes, coaches, parents, and community members in attendance at the Champion Durham Classic to join.

Sessions will be held at Hillside High School on Tuesday, December 26 and Thursday, December 28 at 3:30pm and 6:30pm each day.

Session Speakers:

Dr. Ingrid Wicker-McCree, Retired NCCU Director of Athletics and CEO, WM Leadership & Legacy Coaching

Mitch Moser, Higher Ed Consulting Director, Huron Consulting Group

Ovester Grays, Director of Athletics and Head Girl’s Basketball Coach, Hillside High School

The Durham Sports Commission is proud to announce a new collaboration with Sheetz to offer informal interview opportunities for student-athletes looking for employment, as well as complimentary snacks for student-athletes and coaches throughout the Champion Durham Classic at Hillside High School.

Participating coaches will receive a link to share with student-athletes interested in signing up for informal interviews. Informal interviews are limited and first come, first served.

For student-athletes who live outside of Durham, the on-site Sheetz representative can direct you to a location closer to you and assist with connecting you to a recruiter in the area in which you live.

Sheetz is a mecca for people on the go and they provide customers with fast and friendly service and quality products in clean and convenient locations. If you need to refuel your car or refresh your body, they have what you need to keep you moving on to whatever comes next.

The DSC is the proud host the Champion Durham Classic. With so much young talent in the City of Champions, it was past time for a high school basketball invitational to take place in the community. The Durham Sports Commission is a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to create economic and social impact by leading the community’s efforts to attract, support, and promote youth, amateur, collegiate, and professional sporting and recreational events.   

The vision of the DSC is to engage the Durham community in supporting and promoting the sports spirit that exists both historically and presently, by increasing the capacity of local sporting events to host events with strong participation rates, and by working with national event owners to recruit sporting events that provide positive community impact. We’re confident that the Champion Durham Classic will do just that.