2026 Thomas Blackburn Invitational Tournament Player Profiles
The New England Preparatory School Athletic Council (NEPSAC) has governed prep school athletics in the Northeast since 1942. In basketball, it is one of the most reliable pipelines to college rosters in the country, and its gyms draw coaches from D1 to D3 every winter.
Schools play in Classes A, B and C based on male enrollment, so schools of similar size match up. Conversely, Classes AA and AAA are opt-in division. They come with expanded rules, such as longer seasons and longer games.
The 2026 Thomas Blackburn Invitational, the 26th annual edition, brings four programs to Worcester Academy in Worcester, MA on December 12 and 13 for a NEPSAC Class AA weekend. The event honors Tom Blackburn, Worcester Academy's athletic director and coach from 1973 to 2000. The event gives NEPSAC's Class AA postseason tournament seeding committee more game results to work with. It also gives college coaches a talent-rich event to drop in on, which matters even more this year because the College of the Holy Cross is hosting the Scholar Roundball Classic the same weekend, only a few miles away.
This is a very strong tournament field. All four programs finished last season in the national Top 100 of the 2025-26 National Prep Computer Rankings. Winchendon at #13, Kimball Union at #50, Tilton at #70 and Worcester at #74. And each has added significant talent to their 2026-27 rosters, so all four are projected to climb higher this season.
This year's games are in Worcester Academy's new Capozzoli Athletic Center which opened on October 17, 2025, at New Balance Performance Park. The $42 million, two-level hub fittingly has as its centerpiece the 22,000-square-foot Thomas Blackburn Gymnasium.
You can get a rundown on each program and their players by clicking on the "Link to Player Profiles" below.
Worcester Academy from Worcester, MA
Head Coach: Jamie Sullivan (508) 868 4855
The Winchendon School from Winchendon, MA
Head Coach: Alex Popp (617) 877 4571
Kimball Union Academy from Meriden, NH
Head Coach: Cory McClure (207) 381 7181
Tilton School from Tilton, NH
Head Coach: Marcus O'Neil (603) 867 3207