Elite youth basketball players will get the opportunity to take part in a camp run in conjunction with the NBA Summer League and the WNBA All-Star Weekend from July 12-16, the league announced Thursday morning.
Forty highly regarded 13- and 14-year-old players from 17 different countries will take part in the Jr. NBA Showcase. The kids will join skill development workouts, practices with teams and exhibitions, in addition to taking part in three-point, dunk and skills contests.
The exhibition games, which will take place on July 15, are scheduled to stream live on the NBA app.
Participants will also join an NBA Cares program and undergo life skills and leadership development sessions. With the event in Vegas in the center of the NBA summer league action and WNBA All-Star Weekend, players will have the chance to receive this tutelage from current and former NBA, WNBA and G League players and coaches, the league said.
Jr. NBA is one of the league’s global youth basketball development initiatives. This event in July, which will be the first time the league has hosted it, is seen by the NBA youth development officials as another way to bridge the gap from elite international youth leagues to high school programs like Basketball Without Borders.
Events like these are a way for viewers to start learning about the next crop of players who have an opportunity to make noise at the college or NBA level. Many of them are still unknown to the vast majority of basketball fans, but there are some more recognizable names like Erick Dampier Jr., who was measured at 6-foot-8 as a seventh grader and is the son of the former NBA player Erick Dampier, and Lincoln Cosby, a student in the class of 2027 who is listed somewhere between 6-foot-7 (per 247Sports) or 6-foot-8 (his Instagram account).
The full roster can be found below:
Boys International
- Wael Aguenaou, Marrakesh, Morocco
- Emmanuel Ahamefule, London, England
- Nicolas Alejandro Gonzalez Martin, Montevideo, Uruguay
- Petar Bjelica, Belgrade, Serbia
- Lun Jarc, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Nate Langmaid, Melbourne, Australia
- Kaito Nakamura, Hyogo, Japan
- Joel Ntale Kabugi, Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo
- Saul Octavio Quiroz Duarte, Tijuana, Mexico
- Mamadou Sow, Thiés, Senegal
U.S. Boys
- Isaac Bongen, Portland, Oregon
- Mason Collins, Columbia, South Carolina
- Lincoln Cosby, Liberty Township, Ohio
- Erick Dampier Jr., Ridgeland, Mississippi
- Derek Daniels, Washington, District of Columbia
- Ahmad Hudson, Ruston, Louisiana
- Tyrone Jamison Jr., Shreveport, Louisiana
- Gabriel Nesmith, West Palm Beach, Florida
- Babatunde Oladotun, Silver Spring, Maryland
- Tyler Sutton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Girls International
- Zeina Ayman Haleem, Cairo, Egypt
- Klara Bilusic, Zagreb, Croatia
- Shannon Dominique Susila, Surabaya, Indonesia
- Rabeniamina Kaloniaina Tiffany, Antananarivo, Madagascar
- Nada Maksimovic, Belgrade, Serbia
- Oghenetega Precious Ogbodu, Lagos, Nigeria
- Florencia Ribolla Wilson, Mercedes, Uruguay
- Ayvah Ricli, Perth, Australia
- Barbora Subova, Brno, Czech Republic
- Aislin Tamez Torres, Monterrey, Mexico
- U.S. Girls
- Jezelle Banks, Wilmington, Delaware
- Ryan Carter, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Sydney Douglas, Upland, California
- Miciah Fusilier, Camden, Arkansas
- Lillie Graves, Lafayette, Indiana
- Lauren Hassell, Clarksville, Tennessee
- Micah Ojo, Charlotte, North Carolina
- Jordyn Palmer, Oxford, Pennsylvania
- Qandace Samuels, District Heights, Maryland
- Nation Williams, Las Vegas, Nevada
“The Jr. NBA Showcase will provide a platform for elite players from around the world to further develop as players and leaders, showcase their potential and create lifelong memories at what will be the epicenter of basketball in Las Vegas this summer,” NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Youth Basketball Development David Krichavsky said in a statement.
“Together with Nike, the NBA and WNBA are committed to improving the youth basketball experience at all levels of the game, and the Jr. NBA Showcase provides an opportunity to help prepare standout 13- and 14-year-old players for the next step in their basketball journeys.”
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