Neither can Salado graduate David Rosenau, who will swap his basketball shoes for football cleats next month.
Lippincott, Rosenau and 51 other graduated seniors from across Texas will be in action today and Sunday in the 14th annual Centex Jammin’ All-Star Games at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor’s Mayborn Campus Center.
“I’m really excited to just be a part of it all,” said Lippincott, who will play basketball at Concordia University Texas in Austin.
Today’s skill contests - a 3-point shooting contest, a free-throw shooting contest, a slam-dunk contest and a 2-ball event - begin at 7 p.m. and are free and open to the public.
On Sunday, the three all-star games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m., 2:30 and 4. The finals of the slam-dunk contest will be during halftime of the 2:30 game.
Lippincott was an All-District 13-5A first-team selection the last two seasons. The 6-1 guard scored a personal district-best 26 points against Killeen Ellison and had 17 in his final game, an overtime victory over archrival Temple.
Known for his excellent outside shooting, Lippincott hopes to display it in tonight’s 3-point shooting contest and stay hot for Sunday’s game.
“I think if I chuck up enough 3s we’ll win,” said Lippincott, who’ll play for Team 5 during Sunday’s 4 p.m. game. “Of course, my main goal is to win the game, but other than that it’s about having a good time.”
Area fans will still get to see Lippincott in action when his Concordia squad makes its annual trip to face UMHB in Belton.
But for Salado’s Rosenau, this likely will be his final organized basketball game.
Excluding intramurals, the 6-4 quarterback will focus his attention to the gridiron at UMHB next month.
“I think it’ll be a lot of fun,” said Rosenau, who is on Team 4 and will play at 2:30 p.m. Sunday. “I’m getting to play with some of the best seniors in Central Texas. When Coach (Kenny) Mann talked to me about it, I wanted to do it right away.”
Since graduating in late May, Rosenau, an All-District 25-2A first-team selection this season and district defensive MVP in 2007, said he has been preoccupied with football conditioning and didn’t start playing basketball again until last week.
Other area graduates participating are Jarrell’s Greyson Burns, who is on Team 2 and will play at 1 p.m., and Granger’s Stephen Brosch, who is teammates with Lippincott.
The founder and coordinator of the Centex Jammin’ All-Star Games is Thorndale boys basketball coach/athletic director Jeff Lieberman, whose Bulldogs have won consecutive Class A state championships. He has made the annual all-star event into exactly what he wanted.
With more than 1,300 high schools in Texas, most of the premier players elect to play in either the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches All-Star Game or the Texas High School Coaches Association All-Star Game.
Lierberman said that while those games only represent 1 to 2 percent of the state’s best, the all-star games he helped start 14 years ago have given more kids an opportunity to shine.
“It’s turned into a really neat deal,” said Lieberman, who has used the all-star games to fund scholarships for players who go on to play in college. “For most of the kids, this is it. This gives them a chance to get recognized. The kids get one last shot for what they’ve achieved at high school."
cmeister@temple-telegram.com
