About

A Tradition of Basketball Excellence

The Battle at The Villages is an 8-team holiday basketball tournament that features high school team from across Florida and the country. Founded in 2014 by Fred Gibbons, Jim Haley, and Rick Tatman, the tournament has evolved into one of the most competitive and well-renowned 8-team tournaments in the country. The Battle prides itself on featuring a balanced bracket of teams where any of the eight teams entering the tournament can take home the Battle at The Villages trophy.

Since 2014, the Battle at The Villages has featured teams from: Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. In 2025, Arizona and Tennessee will be added as states represented in the Battle.

Future NBA Stars such as Tre Mann (Charlotte Hornets), Jaxson Hayes (Los Angeles Lakers), Moussa Diabaté (Charlotte Hornets) all had breakout showings at the Battle. College stars such as Vernon Carey, Jr. (Duke), Sam Walters (Southern Methodist/Michigan/Alabama), R.J. Davis (North Carolina), Ricardo Wright (Kennesaw State/Marist), Scottie Lewis (Florida), Bryan Antoine (Radford/Villanova), Nasir Mann (Queens/McNeese State), Nick Ward (Michigan State), and more made an impact at the Battle.

The 2025 Battle at The Villages is set to write an exciting new chapter in Battle at The Villages history as it will be the first time out-of-state teams will outnumber Florida teams.