For the past several years, Alexandrias four high schools have opened the basketball season with the Alexandria Tip-Off Classic.

This years event will showcase Bishop Ireton vs. Episcopal in one game on Saturday, and T.C. Williams vs. St. Stephens & St. Agnes in the final game. The Titan girls basketball team will begin the festivities with a game against Chancellor High School from Fredericksburg. The girls game begins at 4 p.m. and will be followed immediately by the boys games.

The highlight of the evening will be the dedication of the new basketball court at the new T.C. Williams High School. The court will be named for Earl Lloyd, the first African-American player in the National Basketball Association.

Lloyd began his basketball career on the playgrounds of Alexandria and D.C., was a stand-out at Parker-Gray High School, and finally led West Virginia State College to two national titles in 1949 and 1950. In 1950, he was drafted by the Washington Capitals, for whom he played a very short time before entering the U.S. Army.

After the Army, Lloyd went on to play for the Syracuse Nationals and eventually for the Detroit Pistons, where he was both a player and a coach.

Lloyd and many of his Parker-Gray teammates will be there on Saturday night, Dec. 1, for the festivities. Parking is limited at the new school, so do not plan to park there.