By Henry Luzzatto

Correspondent

Suffolk’s basketball players will have a chance to relive their glory days on Saturday at the Old School Classic at Lakeland High School.

Three games will see graduates of old schools face off against one another in a charity match to raise money for Lakeland’s basketball program.

“We wanted to do a fundraiser and get the guys from school back together,” said Gregory Rountree, activities director at Lakeland.

In addition, the event gives fans a chance to watch former stars play the game they grew up with, said Clint Wright, Lakeland’s head basketball coach.

“It’s reunion centric,” he said. “The audience gets to see them play the game they know and love,” he said.

Wright said he put the event together about four years ago, when he was asked to get the teams together for a community service event. After a successful outing, Wright wanted to make the event an annual one, he said.

“We all liked the idea and decided to create the alumni Old School Classic,” he said.

Lakeland’s doors open at 11 a.m. for the game. Fans will be admitted with a $5 donation.

The first game takes place at noon and will include alumni from Surry High School facing graduates of Franklin and Southampton High Schools. The second game, at 1:30 p.m., pits Forest Glen and John F. Kennedy High School alumni against one another. The final game, at 3 p.m., will have alumni of John Yeates High School playing alumni from Suffolk High School.

“We got all the old schools in the area who wanted to participate,” Rountree said.

Wright said they chose to represent the old schools in order to show the legacies of Suffolk’s original schools.

Since many of the schools closed by the 1990s, most of the players participating in the games will be in their 40s, Wright said. However, this will not prevent them from having a good time playing. Wright, a member of the John Yeates High School class of 1987, will join others from the school on the court, giving him a chance to show he can play as well as coach.

“I always play,” he said. “My players get a chance to scrutinize me and see if I really do practice what I preach,” he said.

Wright said he was looking forward to playing against his assistant coach, Tony Smith, who went to Suffolk High School.

Though the schools that will be represented in the games are no longer operating, Rountree said the alumni still have a friendly rivalries between the teams.

“We’ve been going back and forth about who’s better since it was announced,” he said.

The money raised at the event will be used to help fund Lakeland’s basketball program. Rountree said the majority of the money will be used for camps and other training possibilities to make the team better.

He expects no shortage of attendees on Saturday.

“It’s definitely going to be a sellout,” he said. “It will be standing room only.”

The games will unite Suffolk natives who are now scattered all over the country, with men coming all the way from California to play.

Rountree said the game is a positive thing for the community, and it will help promote unity among the people of Suffolk — even if there is a hint of rivalry.

“It’s always great for the community,” he said. “It brings everybody together.”