Nova Southeastern hosts the South Florida Showdown. These are the teams playing

The high school gym for University School and the college arena for Nova Southeastern University are separated by just half a football field.

Given that proximity, one of the first things Jim Crutchfield did when he was hired as NSU’s men’s basketball coach in March of 2017 was to reach out to University School.

“When I arrived here, I was stunned by the lack of connection between University School and NSU,” said Crutchfield, who got the Sharks job after leading West Liberty to four consecutive NCAA Division II Elite Eight berths.

“I wanted to get University School in our arena. To me, it was a no-brainer.”

On Thursday, Crutchfield’s vision will become a reality. NSU will host the first of what he hopes is an annual event — the South Florida Showdown.

At 5:30 p.m., Class 5A University School will challenge Class 4A Westminster Academy in a battle of reigning state champions from Broward County. And, at 7 p.m., NSU, which is ranked a school-record ninth in the nation in NCAA Division II, will complete the doubleheader by hosting a local NAIA team, St. Thomas.

University School coach Jim Carr, who is from New York, and Crutchfield, who is a West Virginia native, both arrived in South Florida at around the same time and have struck up a friendship.

“Jim is one of the best coaches I’ve ever seen,” said Carr, who has been a college assistant at Rutgers, Rhode Island and Fairleigh Dickinson. “I try to go to [NSU] practices as often as I can to learn.

“For our kids, it helps them to play at a college arena. They’ve also played in open gyms with and against the NSU guys. We’ve practiced at their place a few times. We go to their games, and they go to ours. There’s great synergy.”

Besides great synergy, there will also be great talent on display in Thursday’s doubleheader, most notably Vernon Carey Jr. and Scottie Barnes of University School.

Carey, a 6-10, 275-pound senior center with guard skills as a perimeter shooter, committed to Duke on Thursday. He is the nation’s third-ranked player in the Class of 2019.

Barnes, a 6-8, 210-pound junior forward, has yet to commit to a school but is the nation’s second-ranked recruit for the Class of 2020.

Syracuse is the favorite to land Barnes, according to 247Sports, but Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon, Miami and others are in the chase.

Meanwhile, Westminster Academy is led by a pair of 6-3 senior guards who have signed with Division I colleges: Sam Griffin (Texas Arlington) and Chase Johnston (Purdue-Fort Wayne).

As for the college game on Thursday, the top of the marquee goes to David Dennis, NSU’s 6-1 senior guard who last season was the first Sharks player ever to win the Sunshine State Conference’s Newcomer of the Year award.

He was also first-team all-league and finished second in the nation in minutes per game (39:37); second in steals (3.56); and 10th in assists (6.8).

All in all, Westminster coach Ehren Wallhoff believes it should be a good show on Thursday.

“I think our high school game will be an epic battle,” said Wallhoff, whose team has made it to the state title game three years in a row, winning the past two. “We lost to University School last season (87-70). They have great, five-star athletes, and our kids are excited about getting another opportunity to play them.”