Shoe City Classic to showcase plenty of hoop talent

It may have a new name, and a new director, but it?s still the same basketball tournament.Last year, after English girls basketball coach Fred Hogan ran his “Hoganzbasketball” tournament for the final time, he passed the torch to new director Simmie Anderson, who has re-christened it the “Shoe City Classic.”Either way, the particulars of the tournament remain the same. It?ll be held Aug. 9-11 at Marian Gardens (the rain venue will either be Lynn Tech or the Fecteau-Leary gym) and will feature a lot of talent from high school, college and beyond.Featured on the marquee, according to Anderson, are his cousins Antonio and Anthony Anderson, Corey Bingham, Tony Gallo, Dwight Brewington and Dorian Brown.Of the above, perhaps the most noteworthy is Antonio Anderson, whose Memphis team reached the NCAA Division 1 men?s basketball final in 2008, losing to Kansas (the regional championship and Final Four appearance were later vacated when it was found that Memphis had an illegal player, widely believed to be Derrick Rose).His brother, Anthony, was a standout player for English and for the University of Massachusetts. Bingham, who comes from another noteworthy Lynn basketball family, played on a state championship Lynn Tech basketball team and later for Oklahoma City University.Brewington played for two years at English before transferring to Worcester State. He later played for Providence College and Liberty University. He has come back to the area to conduct basketball clinics under his “Active Skills Basketball Training Program.”Gallo also played for Tech and Brown played at English.The North Shore Tides will bring a team to Lynn, and there will also be athletes from Boston as well.Anderson is still seeking sponsors for the tournament.