Irmo Basketball Named to Annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions

The Irmo Boy's Basketball have picked up another high-profile accolade. The Yellow Jackets were presented a national ranking trophy and banner by MaxPreps and the Army National Guard on Tuesday, April 30. The team was officially named to the 7th Annual MaxPreps Basketball Tour of Champions in early April. 

"MaxPreps is thrilled to work with the Army National Guard to honor America's finest high school boys' basketball teams with the prestigious Army National Guard national ranking trophy," said President and Founder Andy Beal. "Coach Whipple and the Irmo Yellow Jackets have proven on the court that they are among the nation's truly elite high school hoops teams. We salute the coach, the young men on the team and Irmo High School for a job well done."

MaxPreps, a California-based company that ranks more than 20,000 U.S. high school boys' varsity basketball teams, ranks Irmo 52nd nationally. Other nationwide polls rank the Yellow Jackets among the top 20. The trophy ceremony by MaxPrep is reserved for the nation's elite teams. To be eligible for the honor, Irmo had to be nationally ranked and win a state championship.

Head coach Tim Whipple said, "When you start talking about national awards, that's pretty special. This is one of the more enjoyable teams I've coached. The leadership by the players was so well and they were so prepared every game."

Irmo capped a perfect 29-0 season with a South Carolina AAAA state championship. This year’s state title was the second  for the Yellow Jackets (29-0) in three years and the fifth in coach Tim Whipple's 32 years at the school. 

From Lexington-Richland 5 Office of Public Information