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Kochi 7th January 2017: It was a massive turn out at ACG-NBA Jump at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Kochi when 660 children’s below the age of 17 years participated in the one-day selection trails. which ultimately brings to provide the top 24 prospects with scholarships and training at the recently announced NBA elite basketball training centre set to open in Delhi-NCR by April.

These players will get fully-funded scholarships. The critical part for us is education; along with coaching and player development, the prospects will be provided academic and personal development, too. One can’t be without the other. We will have academic scholarship: the idea will be to find a school of a certain level and in a reasonable vicinity of an academy for our students.” Said Carlos

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the ACG Worldwide Group (ACG) expanded the programme’s second year. The first session, which took place in Mumbai on the 3rd of December has already been completed in, Delhi, Ludhiana and now in Kochi and is moving out to Kolkotta on 14th of this month

NBA coach, Carlos Barroca, senior Vice president Basketball Operations of India, conducted the camp.

. It’s been a year of rapid growth for NBA India, and young Indian talents can now have realistic dreams of seeing their potential recognised, honed, and improved to take the jump to the next level of the game

The first phase of the program across six centres in India as 40 from Kochi were shortlisted to determine the 40 prospects who will advance to the next phase .the second Phase of the programme a 3day national training camp will culminate with the selection of 24.

NBA Acadamy in India will be an elite basketball training centre in Delhi National Capital region for the top prospects throughout India ..NBA academy in India This will be the fifth such elite training centre globally. So far, the NBA has similar academies in Hangzhou, Jinan and Urumqi in China and one in Australia.and is fully funded by NBA and will open in April.

A year ago, NBA India teamed up with ACG Worldwide to launch a first-of-its-kind talent search programme, the ACG-NBA Jump. Since then, the following things have happened:

• The NBA saw hundreds of young players from around the country and picked 32 for the Finals in Delhi, attended by former NBA coach Brian Shaw.
• Palpreet Singh Brar won the contest.
• With help from NBA coaches and rigorous training, Palpreet attended the NBA D-League tryouts.
• Palpreet became the first Indian to be drafted directly into the D-League.
• The NBA launched a massive Academy for elite Indian talents to boost up top-level talent from the country.

The NBA has invited individual players to participate in the ACG NBA Jump Official Tryouts. The entire tryout session in 2016 consists of six sessions, across the span of a couple of weeks. The ACG NBA Jump officials invite players from every school/ district/ city and state to come and participate in the tryouts. NBA scouts will be present at the tryouts, too.

We want basketball to be the clear number two sport in India: NBA India’s managing director Yannic Colaco

Indian basketball is still lagging behind at the international stage. Despite being the world’s second-largest population, FIBA – the international basketball federation – ranks India 53rd and 40th in the men’s and women’s divisions respectively worldwide. But India is starting to show some improvement: they have beaten Asia’s highest-ranked team China twice in the last three years, made it to the quarter-finals of Asia’s top basketball tournament – FIBA Asia Basketball Championship – last year, and feature individual players like Palpreet Singh, Amjyot Singh, Amrit Pal Singh, in addition to Satnam Singh, who have made a mark professionally overseas.

Colaco hoped that the NBA’s involvement will help improve the national team’s progress and add to the international and domestic exposure for India’s top players.

“We think that competitions are critical for the growth of players in the Academy,” said Colaco, “We will be working closely within the national system to ensure that these kids are constantly playing in competitions and work with the BFI and state associations to increase the competitive events in India.We hope to take our players abroad for international exposure, too.”

While the Academy will deal with players at the elite level, the NBA has been holding a grassroots level programme for several years along with Reliance to make basketball an important part of the lifestyle and sporting habits for young Indian kids. This year, the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA programme will open in 19 Indian cities and reach around 35 lakh children.

“We believe that we continue doing the right thing both for grassroots and elite level, there will be a steady stream of high-quality basketball players from India,” said Colaco, “Where they take their career from that point will depend eventually on how good they are and how hard they work.”

“Everything we do in India is towards the goal of growing our fanbase and pushing basketball to the number two spot.”
With so many other contenders in the game, basketball’s place as India’s top substitute to cricket is a longshot. But with the support of the NBA and a nation brimming with potential future stars, Indian basketball has the promise to shoot past the odds.