Drake Powell, Tounde Yessoufou, Meleek Thomas to headline Oregon high school basketball showcase

Salem-based 2023 Capitol City Classic pits three teams led by 5-star prospects against best in Oregon high school boys basketball

Last December, Jackson Shelstad and West Linn (Oregon) rallied to win the Capitol City Classic and then proceeded to fight their way into the national conversation shortly thereafter. 

Will an Oregon team win the annual Salem-based showcase this year for just the third time? 

The Capitol City Classic returns Dec. 15-20 for its 2023 rendition and boasts a boys field headlined by many of the top high school basketball teams in Oregon and out-of-state competition from California, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.

Reigning Pennsylvania Class 4A champion Lincoln Park is headlined by 6-foot-4 5-star combo guard Meleek Thomas, the top-rated junior in Pennsylvania (Kansas, Duke, UConn and Indiana offers), and 4-star senior guard Brandin Cummings, a Pitt commit.

Northwood (North Carolina) features the biggest prospect in the tournament: 5-star 6-foot-6 North Carolina commit Drake Powell, the nation's No. 2 small forward and No. 4 prospect in 2024, per 247 Sports.

Rivals 5-star Tounde Yessoufou is one of the nation's best high school dunkers and one of the top returning high school players in California and leads a hungry St. Joseph's Knights (California) team coming off a 28-7 season and CIF Open Division runner-up finish.

SBLive/Sports Illustrated Top 25 national high school boys basketball preseason rankings: Montverde Academy No. 1 (10/23/2023)

The three out-of-state teams will take on an Oregon field headlined by two-time defending Oregon Class 6A state champion Tualatin, led by 3-star power forward Jaden Steppe.

The boys tournament will be played at Willamette University and the girls are at Corban University, both in Salem. The girls field features a competitive all-Oregon list.

"It's going to be a doozy of a tournament," assistant tournament director Jack Roche said. "We can't wait. To have the NBA-caliber talent and the number of top-level teams and players we have coming to Salem is really exciting and reflects how the Capitol City Classic is truly a national event these days."

SBLive unveiled the field live on Instagram @SBLiveOR, where studio host Christian Pedersen talked to assistant tournament directors Jack Roche and BJ Dobrkovsky to break down the fields.

Re-watch the Instagram live breakdown here. The bracket will be unveiled Nov. 28. Tickets are on sale now at the tournament website (day passes $10, tournament passes $40). 

Find the complete list of teams below:

BOYS TOURNAMENT

OUT-OF-STATE TEAMS

Lincoln Park (Pennsylvania)

St. Joseph (California)

Northwood (North Carolina)

OREGON TEAMS

Tualatin

Wilsonville

Beaverton

Cascade Christian

Lake Oswego

West Salem

Sprague

South Salem

North Salem

Silverton

Woodburn

West Albany

GIRLS TOURNAMENT

South Medford

Benson

Oregon City

Sherwood

Wilsonville

McMinnville

West Salem

Silverton

Putnam 

Newberg

Grants Pass

St. Mary's Academy

South Salem

Sprague

RE-LIVE CAPITOL CITY CLASSIC 2022:

Jackson Shelstad of West Linn, Kyleigh Brown of Silverton lead all-tournament honors at Capitol City Classic

Capitol City Classic 2022: Final day highlights, top stars, statistical leaders

Watch: 2022 Capitol City Classic field breakdown — could this be the tournament's deepest year ever?

-- Andy Buhler | andy@scorebooklive.com | @sbliveor