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Columbus is Miami’s newest basketball powerhouse. Now it’s gunning for a national title

With a loaded crop of underclassmen and already a pair of state championships in the last two seasons, Columbus is positioned to be a South Florida boys’ basketball powerhouse for years to come, but the Explorers aren’t content with just being the best in South Florida. They want to compete at a national level.

They’ll get their chance this week. Columbus is headed up to Atlanta to play in The Throne, a new, National Basketball Players Association-supported postseason tournament. Play kicks off Wednesday when the Explorers face a California team at 6 p.m. on NBA TV. Games throughout the tournament will air across NBA and Fox Sports platforms, with the championship slated to air on Fox, making it the first high school game on a broadcast network in two decades.

All games take place at Morehouse College with 16 teams competing across four days to crown a champion Saturday.

Technically, this isn’t a high school tournament, though. The Throne actually features club teams — albeit ones standing in for the high schools — to get around different state association rules regarding postseason play.

For example, Columbus is competing as the Explorers and open play against Bellflower’s St. John Bosco, which is competing as The Tribe. Columbus finished its season at No. 9 in MaxPreps’ national rankings after beating Winter Haven, 50-48, in the Class 7A championship March 4.

Teams were chosen and seeded by a panel including coaches, media and even former NBA guard Jamal Crawford. The tournament is also being put on by Gold Level Sports & Entertainment, which was founded by Cavaliers small forward Danny Green, and will use its connections to the National Basketball Players Association to hold financial literacy workshops in conjunction with the tournament.

The Explorers were a natural choice for the field both because of their successful season and the appeal of some of the players on their roster. Sophomore forward Cameron Boozer just won the national Gatorade Player of the Year award for boys’ basketball Wednesday and sophomore shooting guard Cayden Boozer, his twin brother, is also a blue-chip prospect in the 247Sports composite rankings for the Class of 2025.

The Boozers already hold scholarship offers from Miami, Florida State, Duke and more, and were both first-team all-county selections by the Miami Herald in 2022.