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WHEELING - What do Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans and Wheeling Jesuit freshman guard Brenden Bazilio have in common?

They're both alumni of the annual Cancer Research Classic, sponsored by the Urologic Research Institute of Wheeling Hospital.

Officials were on hand Tuesday at the hospital to announce plans for the third playing of the event, set for Jan. 1-2, 2010, on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University.

There have already been 65 players come through Wheeling for this tournament that have signed to, or gone on to, play college basketball, including Evans, who spent a season at Memphis before leaping into the NBA ranks as the No. 4 pick in the 2009 NBA Draft.

''I think the valley people still don't understand that this is a different quality of basketball. This is not going to an OVAC game,'' said Dr. Gregory Merrick, one of the heads of the extravaganza and executive director of the Urologic Research Institute at Wheeling Hospital.

''When you sit and look where our kids are already playing - they're all through the ACC, the Big East, the SEC - they're everywhere.''

This year's schedule features seven of the top 40 teams in the country with the likelihood of an eighth by the first of the year. Merrick has been told West Virginia's own Huntington Prep is that good.

Things are set to tip off at 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 1 with Paterson Catholic (Paterson, N.J.) facing Huntington Prep.

Paterson Catholic, the preseason No. 40 in the country, features Kyle Anderson, thought to be the premier sophomore in the state of New Jersey, and small forward Fuquan Edwin, who has signed to play at Seton Hall next season.

The three on the front line are all 6-foot-7 or above, and five players from this team are said to be Division-I prospects.

Huntington Prep has a very international roster, according to Merrick, with ''two kids from Africa that will probably be NBA lottery picks.''

At 8:15 p.m. Friday, Wheeling Park and Wheeling Central will play for the ''George Kellas City Championship,'' with the winner taking a trophy back to school each year. Officials felt it was a fitting tribute to Kellas, who was a contributor in getting this event off the ground during its infancy.

Saturday's action begins with a Neumann-Goretti team out of Philadelphia that graduated only one player from a squad that had eight Division-I prospects facing Christ the King (N.Y.) at 12:30 p.m.

Neumann-Goretti plays a four-guard system, while Christ the King is just the opposite.

''They're huge,'' Merrick said. ''That's going to be an exciting game. I think it will be slow vs. fast.''

Speedy Morris' St. Joseph's Prep out of Philadelphia will play Cleveland St. Ignatius at roughly 2:05 p.m. Morris' team features a Cornell recruit, while St. Ignatius is comprised mainly of Division II-caliber players.

Wheeling Central will make its second appearance of the weekend at 3:40 p.m. against a Sewickley Academy team that features Davidson commit Tom Droney, a point guard.

When Rice (N.Y.) takes on Gonzaga (D.C.) at 5:15 p.m., Merrick expects fans will see high school basketball at its finest.

''When they left here last year, I thought Rice and Gonzaga were the two best-coached high school basketball programs I've ever seen,'' he said.

Rice is No. 8 in the country, while Gonzaga is No. 36, according to ESPN's preseason rankings.

Rice's Shane Southwell, one of six D-I prospects on the roster, is headed to Kansas State University, while Gonzaga's Tyler Thornton is on his way to Duke.

The final game features St. Frances Academy (Md.) vs. St. Benedict's Prep (N.J.).

St. Benedict's prep, ranked No. 4 in the land, has 12 Division-I prospects, with players heading to the likes of Texas, Arizona, and Temple.

St. Frances Academy has Sam Cassell Jr. and junior Greg Lewis, who is being recruited by Xavier.

''The reputation of our tournament after two years is incomprehensible to me,'' Merrick said of the CRC.

Merrick has been involved in other local basketball events, which are used as a vehicle to promote the cause of men's health. Proceeds of the CRC support the hospital's undergraduate cancer research and medical physics programs.

Merrick also played a big role in September's OVAC coaches clinic that featured Hall of Fame coach John Chaney, along with former UNLV and Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian and current Pitt coach Jamie Dixon.

Game times are estimated. Games will begin approximately 20 minutes after completion of the prior game.

Notes

The daily admission fee is $4 for a student and $7 for an adult. If attending both days, the admission fee is half price on Saturday. ... Merrick says any coach wanting to bring their junior high or middle school teams - boys or girls - can bring as many as 15 players for $30 for Saturday's action.