Maintaining its commitment to hosting a world-class basketball tournament with the best teams in Texas and Louisiana, this year’s McDonald’s Texas Invitational Basketball Tournament is bringing in Fort Worth’s North Crowley High School Panthers, home of one of the nation’s top point guards, Willie Warren.

Warren, the interest of many college scouts including Cincinnati, Connecticut, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Louisville, and Texas, is one of the top players in Texas and was District 4-5A’s Most Valuable Player last year. The young basketball star is also an All-American candidate, a member of both TABC’s 5A first-team All-Region and first-team All-State teams, and was the Fort Worth Star-Telegram’s Player of the Year last year. Warren is the seventh Panther in the school’s history to be selected All-State.

But Warren doesn’t do it alone. He and his fellow players finished the season last year with a 29-6 overall record and a 13-1 District 4-5A mark. Last year’s 29 wins marked the ninth straight season the Panthers recorded more than 20 victories as North Crowley has now won 252 men’s basketball games with only a 55 game loss. The team has also claimed eight invitational tournament championships since the school opened in 1998, with it’s most recent being the 2006-2007 Scott Bagg Invitational championship.

This is North Crowley’s first year to attend the McDonald’s Texas Invitational, which will be held Nov. 15-17, and the team’s head coach and last year’s District 4-5A Co-Coach of the Year Tommy Brakel said he and the team are honored to be invited.

“I’ve heard nothing but great things about this tournament including both the talent level of the teams in the tournament and the way the tournament is run,” Brakel said. “We had an opportunity to go almost anywhere in the nation to play our tournaments this year, but we decided on the McDonald’s Texas Invitational in Pasadena mainly for those two reasons.”

Although the tournament serves as a showcase for Texas’ premier high school basketball talent, the McDonald’s Texas Invitational is also the primary fundraiser for Pasadena ISD’s Education Foundation. The foundation supports students by providing grants to teachers for innovative educational programs. Twice a year, foundation board members surprise winning campuses with grants up to $5,000 through the foundation’s Dream Makers event. Over the past three years, the tournament has brought in $160,000 for the foundation.

“We absolutely love the opportunity to mix great basketball with a great cause,” said Brakel. “We really try hard to teach our kids the importance of being positive role models within their community. It is truly a pleasure to know the proceeds will be going to help a great district like Pasadena ISD meet their educational goals.”

Brakel said the McDonald’s Texas Invitational tournament will help prepare his team for district and post-season play.

“This tournament will give us an opportunity to play in a lot of games against quality opponents early in the season,” he said. “District play begins in December this season, so it’s imperative that we get as many quality games in as quickly as possible. The tournament is so early in the season that it should really give everyone a measuring tool to see just where their teams stand.”

While the Panthers will be facing the best competition in the state, Brakel said his state-ranked team has a lot to offer the tournament.

“We bring an exciting up-tempo style of basketball that I feel the fans will enjoy watching,” said Brakel. “We also bring a team that has approximately nine future collegiate basketball players as well as the number one player in the state of Texas and the number one guard in the country, Willie Warren.”

Two of the nine future college ball players include the team’s senior captains and guards TJ Franklin and PJ Colley. Both guards were selected as district Honorable Mentions last year, and Franklin was named to the District 4-5A All-Academic team. Franklin is a three-year letterman for the team and is ranked seventh academically in North Crowley’s Class of 2008. Colley is close to signing with Texas A&M-Commerce.

Speaking on behalf of their team, the captains said, “We think it’s a great opportunity for our team to prove ourselves against the best teams in the state. We know we need to continue to work hard and give our best every day in practice to prepare for this tournament.”

The tournament has grown to be one of the best high school basketball tournaments in the state featuring top ranked teams in both the 48-team boys’ bracket and 24-team girls’ division.

More than 30,000 fans attended last year’s event, which is spread out over Pasadena ISD’s five high schools, Beverly Hills Intermediate and Phillips Gymnasium. The tournament brings in more than 20 annual local sponsors along with hundreds of community volunteers.

“There is a lot of pride taken in this tournament as it is a first-class tournament all the way from the organization through the commitment to having the best teams from around the state participating,” said Brakel. “It’s a tournament that the school district, the community and the organizers should all be very proud of hosting.”