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DENTON – The fourth annual Napday invitational was held on Saturday, August 9, at Sharp Road Park in Denton. Hundreds of spectators and basketballers of all ages gathered for the event, which hosted free skills and drills clinics for kids ages 7 to 14, a middle school boys’ showcase, and multiple boys and girls high school matchups. The contests took place on a newly painted court – largely due to the work of Terae Warner, the owner of Not a Phase (NAP) clothing in Denton and organizer of the Napday Invitational.
Warner said the goal of the invitational approach is to “keep the games at a high level.” “It’s based off your in-season performance,” Warner explained, “so each school usually gets about two players, no more than three…it’s based off stats, playing on varsity.” A small Napday Invitational committee reviews the high schoolers’ statistics at the end of the regular season to select the best of the best. For the middle school teams, Warner said he simply reaches out to their coaches and gets recommendations for the top players. While the ballers are predominantly from Bayside schools, Warner includes some from Delaware and Anne Arundel County.
Off the court, multiple vendors set up to supply the crowd with goodies like food, fresh-squeezed lemonade, and face painting. Purple Peake, Buddy’s Eats and Treats, Taj’s Lemonade, Heavenly Baked Goods, and Spanky’s Soulfood were among the local entrepreneurs in attendance. Of course, Not a Phase clothing had a merchandise tent.
“It’s continuing to grow and every year it gets better,” Warner said. This is Napday’s 4th year – and the only year it wasn’t rescheduled or rushed due to weather. Warner said it originally started out as an anniversary celebration for the opening of his NAP clothing store, but the basketball aspect has taken over as the main event. This is perfectly fine with Warner, who has a passion for fostering opportunities for young athletes, “Youth Sports keeps so many kids on the right track. I feel like the more you celebrate it, they'll stick with it, and the more opportunities it'll create for them to fall in love with it,” he said. He also enjoys seeing how basketball can bring communities and people from all backgrounds together.
One such young athlete who was invited to participate was Kamari Lewis, a rising Junior at Easton High School. She has been playing basketball since she was in 2nd grade and has played in the Napday Invitational every year since its inception. She said she enjoys playing basketball because it involves “a lot of teamwork.” Her favorite part of playing in the 2025 Napday invitational was getting to play on the same court with her cousin.
The 2025 Napday Invitational, played on (the now much sharper-looking) Sharp Road courts, was a reminder that basketball is alive and well in Caroline. Warner said that above all, he wanted to give local kids “an opportunity to do something that I didn’t have growing up…an all-star summer showcase.”
