Tournament History

Tournament Director Wade Vickery was the girls basketball coach at Santana High School for 26 seasons. He compiled a record of 610 wins and 119 losses, with 19 league championships, and 9 CIF-San Diego Section titles. He was named 2002 California girls basketball Coach of the Year, and coached the West in a 4 point victory over the East in the 2006 McDonalds All-American game.

He started the tournament in 1987 with just 8 teams. It has continued to grow to the point that there are 288 teams in 2010. Today, it is the largest high school girls basketball tournament in the nation. What makes our tournament unique is that all girls must attend the same high school, there are no travel or all-star teams.

In 1995 we moved the tournament head quarters from Santana High School in Santee, CA to the RIMAC Arena on the campus of UC San Diego. A few years later we added the Sports Center at Alliant International University (formerly called USIU). In 2005 we added the Jenny Craig Pavilion and Sports Center on the campus of University of San Diego. Currently, there are eight different multi court sites used throughout San Diego County.

As the tournament grew and grew, two teams were always involved, Santana and Winslow High School from Winslow, AZ. Much credit goes out to Don Petranovich, the winningest coach in Arizona, from Winslow with spreading the word to teams in Arizona. He is also the only coach to have participated every year of the tournament.

The San Diego Classic is also a true family affair. Wade’s wife Nancy is the site manager at UC San Diego and is in charge of all mailings and administrative tasks that happen before the tournament. Their two children, Adam and Carina, stuff envelopes, collect score sheets, sell programs and t-shirts, and do many other miscellaneous tasks both prior to and during the tournament. Wade’s older brother Steve, a very successful baseball coach at El Capitan High School, is the site manager at Alliant and San Diego State University. His sister, Sue Kutzner, sells tickets and t-shirts also at San Diego State.