From our friends at Nike Elite Youth Basketball:
Assisted by NIKEEYB.com Web Site Launch
BEAVERTON, Oregon – NIKE, Inc. announced today its 2012 NIKE Elite Youth Basketball schedule consisting of 14 events that reach from coast to coast over the next few months. In addition, Elite Youth Basketball has launched a new dedicated web site to enhance the events.
“This is an exciting time for all of our NIKE spring and summer initiatives following up on our successful platform of events over the past few years,” said Merl Code, Director of NIKE Elite Youth Basketball. “With the continuing emergence of our Elite Youth Basketball League and the Skills Academies, we have added a number of enhancements to these events, plus our new web site will become an integral part of the high school basketball community.”
Before the summer season begins, NIKE celebrates the graduating Class of 2012 with two prestigious nationally televised all-star events. Held in conjunction with USA Basketball, the NIKE Hoop Summit features a team of the top US seniors versus a world team on April 7th in Portland, Oregon. That event will be followed up by the 11th annual Jordan Brand Classic, which is making its return to Charlotte for a second year, and will be televised live on ESPN on April 14th.
The third annual NIKE Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL) tips off in Minneapolis on April 20th with the first of four regular season events featuring over 600 elite student-athletes. The league will include over 40 travel teams from around the United States and Canada with the top 24 teams qualifying for the EYBL Finals at the NIKE Peach Jam in N. Augusta, SC in July. Three of the five overall EYBL events will be held during the NCAA designated evaluation period. The regular season events will be held in Minneapolis, MN, Hampton, VA, Dallas, TX and Oakland, CA.
In June, NBA superstars Kevin Durant, Deron Williams and Amar’e Stoudemire will host their annual NIKE Skills Academies in Chicago. At each position-specific academy, the participants learn from many of the game’s top instructors, as well as the NBA stars themselves. All 80 of these players will then convene to work on team skills at the LeBron James Skills Academy, which is moving to Las Vegas from July 6-9 in order to coincide with LeBron’s commitment to the 2012 Olympic Team training camp.
To complete the summer schedule, NIKE will hold a series of marquee events back-to-back weekends during the newly refined NCAA evaluation period.
The NIKE Global Challenge (July 12-15), with a move to Washington, DC, will feature the top 30 players throughout the summer representing the East, West and Midwest regions in an eight-team tournament against five of the top junior teams from around the world. At the same time in the nation’s capital, the inaugural NIKE Skills School will host over 80 elite players in a competition-driven event in front of hundreds of college coaches. The following weekend, the top 24 teams from the EYBL regular season will compete for the third league championship as part of the EYBL Finals at the NIKE Peach Jam.
NIKE Elite Youth Basketball is a department dedicated to improving the game of basketball. EYB offers young players a place to receive superior skill instruction, honest evaluation and life-changing experiences. The programs and events push kids to work hard and to challenge them to be better on and off the court.
For more information, please visit the new NIKE Elite Youth Basketball web site at www.NIKEEYB.com.
Official NIKE Elite Youth Basketball Schedule
April 7 – NIKE Hoop Summit (Portland, OR)
April 14 – Jordan Brand Classic (Charlotte, NC)
April 20-22 – EYBL Session #1 (Minneapolis, MN)
April 27-29 – EYBL Session #2 (Hampton, VA)
May 11-13 – EYBL Session #3 (Dallas, TX)
May 25-28 – EYBL Session #4 (Oakland, CA)
June 7-10 – Elite 100 (Underclassmen) (St. Louis, MO)
June 21-23 – Deron Williams Skills Academy (Chicago, IL)
June 21-23 – Amar’e Stoudemire Skills Academy (Chicago, IL)
June 24-26 – Kevin Durant Skills Academy (Chicago, IL)
July 6-9 – LeBron James Skills Academy (Las Vegas, NV)
July 11-15 – NIKE Skills School (Washington, DC)
July 12-15 – NIKE Global Challenge (Washington, DC)
July 18-21 – EYBL Finals at the Peach Jam (N. Augusta, SC)
