After five-year absence, Killeen Classic back on Posted On: Tuesday, Dec. 1 2009 05:20 AM Pictures line the walls of the tiny Harker Heights basketball coaches office like a cascade of another life.

Like wallpaper made of old snap shots and newspaper clippings, the room is a visual narrative on the history of Killeen hoops.

But to Celneque Bobbitt, now the school district's senior basketball coach entering his 10th season at Heights, they are his memories, his history.

Several of those memories center around one particular tradition – the Killeen Classic.

"I just show (the kids) that this is what you're going to have when you're doing what I'm doing, telling stories about it or luckily you might be able to coach," Bobbitt said of his office decorations. "It's going to be the memory of being in the game or playing for your school. That's what these guys have to understand, because when it's all said and done, it's just a memory. And that's all you're going to have."

Although his playing days have long since passed, it's that love of Killeen's proud basketball history that drove Bobbitt to help bring back a city tradition that had gone the way of his ability to soar above the rim.

But with the return of the Killeen Classic – the event is now named the KISD Classic – after a five-year hiatus following 17 straight years of the after-Thanksgiving tournament, what was once a rite of passage for area basketball players is back.

As the godfather of the tournament, originally spearheading the effort to start the tournament in 1986, legendary Killeen basketball coach Bo Burgess feels like a proud papa.

"It just thrills me to death," Burgess said from his Salado home. "I had a very instrumental part in starting it to begin with, and then to see it get going again and see the school district get behind it again thrills me to death."

For their part, Bobbitt and Ellison coach Alberto Jones were equally as excited.

"I remember when we played, it was fun. It was one of those tournaments that after you graduated and went off to college, you made sure you were home around Thanksgiving for the Killeen Classic," said Jones, who played in it for both Killeen and Ellison from 1995-97. "It was a lot of good teams there, a lot of good basketball – we loved it."

Even before there ever was a Harker Heights High School, or a Shoemaker, there was the Killeen Classic, where both Killeen and Ellison went toe-to-toe against some of the premier hardcourt contenders from around the state.

"The way I saw it, if you got all four boys teams and all four girls teams to play in a tournament here, no matter what you paid to bring in out of town teams, it'd still balance the cost of what it'd cost to send all eight of those teams out of town to play somewhere – with buses and meals and all that stuff," Burgess said. "We're actually saving money, if not making money to play the tournament in Killeen. And it's the perfect place for it I think."

Playing the elite teams often meant there was a chance the city wouldn't be represented in the championship game. And for the first two years, they weren't.

But in 13 of the next 15 seasons, teams from the Killeen–Fort Hood area were there until the end, playing in the final but rarely coming out on top.

"To win it, let you know that you're one of the premier teams in the state of Texas," Bobbitt said. "... To win the Killeen Classic meant you played somebody who was going to be somebody."

Over the 17 year run of the tournament, a Killeen-area school won six times – the first five by Killeen. The lone other city champion came in 2002, when Ellison – rated No. 4 in Class 4A at the time – edged out Harker Heights 55-52 in Bobbitt's third season as a head coach.

Bobbitt, of course, remembers the moment like it was yesterday.

"We were playing at Killeen High School, so it was my first time on the grand, grand stage as a coach and not just a player," he recalled. "And I was a real young buck then."

And with an assist from his mother – who wanted her son to be dressed for success on that main stage – a Knights tradition was started on the spot as Bobbitt unveiled the famous "Spiderman" suit.

"Low and behold, my mom walked into the gym and had it in the bag," Bobbitt said. "So that's where the flashy, flashy suits started from there."

But after the retirement of legendary Killeen coach Bo Burgess in 2004, who started the tournament along with fellow city basketball icon David Manley of Ellison, the tournament became too expensive to put on.

"I guess they just shut the money down and decided not to do it," Bobbitt said. "What really needed to happen was we needed to get a sponsor to kind off-set the costs of the tournament. And I just thought that we never really got together strong enough between the city of Killeen, the city of Harker Heights, and these industries around here, ... We just need a major sponsor."

And with the constant urging of Bobbitt, as well as other area representatives, the wheels were set in motion. Then, after Bobbitt did some homework figuring what it'd take to travel for the eight city teams compared to what it'd take to host the tournament again, the figures added up to reviving the Classic.

"I know I was barking up any dog's tree that wanted to hear about the Classic," he said. "... I beat the horse down and I showed (the Killeen ISD athletic department) a lot of things where I just made a spreadsheet and gave it to them and let it go from there."

Now the Killeen Classic has returned, all that's left is reminding the area players – most of whom know little of its history – its significance.

"I think they get a sense of ownership, that's what we got – a sense of pride," Bobbitt said. "You don't want to see those $1,500 worth of trophies going down the highway somewhere. ... You wanted that hardware to stay at home."

Contact Alex Byington at alexb@kdhnews.com or at (254) 501-7566.