History of the All “A” Classic
The groundwork for the Kentucky All-A-Classic was formed in 1980 through the efforts of coaches like Stan Steidel of Dayton, Father Ed Heile of Covington Latin, Bill Frey of Covington Holy Cross and others. The inception of a small school basketball tournament began in January of 1980. The first Class “A” Tournament was held at Holy Cross High School in Latonia with eight teams. In 1981 it moved to Bellevue with ten teams, all from Northern Kentucky.
The 1982 to 1989 Classic went statewide by inviting six Class A schools from around the state to compete with the ten northern Kentucky schools. In 1990 the All “A” Classic experienced a dream come true: A statewide championship tournament with sixteen boys’ regional tournament winners competing in Lexington in February. Then in 1991 the All “A” Classic expanded to include the field of 16 boys’ regional winners and included four girls’ sectional winners competing in the statewide finals. In 1992, the statewide tournament again expanded to include eight girls’ teams and in 1993 included the full complement of 16 boys and 16 girls teams.