Steph Curry’s gone, but Under Armour isn’t done with basketball

After Quentin Mosby, one of the top high school basketball players in the country, sank a game-winning 3-pointer at Under Armour’s City Classic on Saturday, his teammates mobbed him. It had been a back-and-forth final few minutes, and his shot sent a crowd packed inside Saint Frances Academy’s gym into a frenzy.

“The play wasn’t for me, but Coach said, if it comes to you, shoot it,” Mosby said. “So I shot it.”

In this case, his coach was De’Aaron Fox — the two-time NBA All-Star who recently helped the San Antonio Spurs reach the NBA Finals. Under Armour hosts an annual showcase of its top high school basketball players, but Saturday’s event, a doubleheader of girls and boys all-star exhibitions, was the first of its kind in Baltimore.

Under Armour no longer sponsors Steph Curry, the NBA legend who had long been the face of the company’s basketball business. But the brand flexed its basketball footprint Saturday, with Fox and Derik Queen, a Baltimore native on the New Orleans Pelicans, serving as coaches.

For $5, attendees watched some of the top high schoolers in the country, all of whom play club basketball on Under Armour’s circuit.

Ivanna Wilson Manyacka — a Frederick native who is arguably the best high schooler in the country, with a laundry list of college offers — led Queen’s squad to a win in the girls game. She scored 21 points, taking home MVP.

“Usually when it’s girls and boys games, the girls don’t have that many people, but here, I mean the gym was packed,” she said. “It was a great environment to play in.”

On the boys side, Indiana commit Chase Branham scored 23 points and earned MVP recognition. The game was decided with an Elam ending, which replaces the game clock with a target score, always leading to a game-winning shot. Before the shot by Mosby, who is from Seattle, won the game, Saint Frances’ own Terence Jones III took the lead for Fox’s squad, the eventual winner.

Saint Frances’ gym seats only a few hundred, but it was a standing-room-only, high-energy affair. Larry Agee — a New York City street ball announcer known as “Mic Larry” — providing constant on-court commentary.

After Declan Griffiths threw down a monster dunk for Team Queen, the crowd leapt to its feet. One attendee sprinted onto the court in disbelief.

“Just seeing the city come out and support … it’s always a blessing. I love the city,” said Darrell Davis, a rising senior from Baltimore who plays at Spire Academy in Ohio.

Under Armour basketball has been synonymous with Curry for over a decade, and last year in Baltimore he promoted work the company has done with city schools. But the two parties split shortly afterward, and Curry later signed a reported 10-year deal worth $400 million with Chinese company Li-Ning.

That made Fox the de facto face of the brand’s men’s basketball business. When he signed with Under Armour — under the umbrella of the Curry Brand — in 2023, the news release featured Fox standing alongside Curry.

“When I came here, obviously, a lot of it was with Steph,” Fox said.

But, after Curry and Under Armour split, Fox’s deal with the company continued.

“For me, just because he left didn’t mean I was going to,” he said.

Fox will launch his new shoe — his first outside of the Curry Brand — next month, but his future with the company is uncertain beyond this year.

“I have one year left on my deal, so we’ll talk about that, contract talks,” he said when asked if he expected to be with Under Armour long term. “But, yeah, for the foreseeable future.”

This weekend marked Fox’s first time in Baltimore since Under Armour pitched him when he began his pro career nearly a decade ago. He picked Nike at that time but later pivoted.

During his time in Baltimore, he promoted his shoes — and also got seafood. He’d been scheduled to eat Italian, but because traveling to Italy has spoiled Italian food in the U.S. for him, he said, he sought a local seafood recommendation from Queen. He went to Jimmy’s Seafood.

“I’m a seafood person. I’m from the South, so I love seafood,” Fox said.

Under Armour has been seeking a comeback, and although its stock value dropped in recent weeks, it’s seen high-profile success from its sponsored athletes over the past few months.

Sharon Lokedi won April’s Boston Marathon wearing Under Armour shoes, Ferran Torres scored Spain’s World Cup-winning goal last month, and Fox’s Spurs are expected to be among the favorites to win the NBA Finals next season.