Dru Joyce Classic

Dru Joyce Classic, a premier U.S. youth travel basketball tournament, will be held at the I-X Center on April 11-13, 2025. This event will bring nearly 300 youth basketball teams and coaches from across the country to participate in a three-day basketball competition, providing an estimated $2,000,000 in economic impact to Northeast Ohio.

Athletes in 2nd to 11th grades will compete as teams for a championship in their age group. This event will showcase each athlete’s ability to compete at a higher level and gain exposure to college coaches who travel to this tournament.

Dru Joyce launched the tournament in summer 2003 to help Ohio athletes see increased recruitment. Formerly, having coached LeBron James and Dru Joyce III, Joyce’s son, at St. Vincent-St. Mary High School basketball team, he decided to create an event in Ohio that would allow sanctioned travel tournaments for college coaches to attend.