NBA/WNBA players and coaches will lead camp 2018 Basketball Without Borders Asia camp in Delhi-NCR. 25 Indian youngsters to take part

The National Basketball Association (NBA), International Basketball Federation (FIBA), and Basketball Federation of India (BFI) recently joined hands to announce that the 2018 Basketball Without Borders Asia camp is set to be held in the Delhi-NCR region from May 30-June 2, 2018. On Thursday, the NBA announced a list of six NBA/WNBA players, additional professional coaches, and 66 participating players from 16 countries across Asia - including 25 Indian boys and girls - who will take part in this prestigious camp, set to be held in the NBA Academy India in Greater Noida.

This is the second time - after 2008 - that the BWB Asia camp is being held in India, and it's the 10th overall BWB Asia camp. Nike will serve as the official partner of the camp.

Corey Brewer (Oklahoma City Thunder), Caris LeVert (Brooklyn Nets), Kelly Olynyk, (Miami Heat), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks), two-time WNBA Champion Ruth Riley, and former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman will coach the top high-school age campers from throughout the Asia-Pacific region.

BWB Asia 2018 will feature two current prospects from NBA Academies, the league’s signature elite player development initiative that consists of a network of elite basketball training centers around the world for top male and female prospects from outside the USA. Since October 2016, NBA Academies have been launched in Canberra, Australia; Jinan, Urumqi and Zhuji, China; Delhi NCR, India; Mexico City, Mexico; and Thies, Senegal.

Players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities on and off the court, including movement efficiency, positional skill development, shooting and skills competitions, 5-on-5 games, and daily life skills seminars focusing on health, leadership and communication. One boy and one girl will be named BWB Asia 2018 MVPs at the conclusion of the four-day camp. In the 2008 camp in Delhi, the boy's MVP was India's Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, who has since become one of India's most important players and has captained the senior squad in numerous international tournaments.

BWB Asia 2018 will be preceded by a basketball development camp May 27 – 29 for the 18 female prospects from throughout India as part of The NBA Academies Women’s Program. 1996 Olympic Gold Medallist and Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame member Jennifer Azzi, Riley and former college coach Blair Hardiek – the global technical directors for women’s programming across the league’s seven
academies – will oversee the camp.

BWB Asia 2018 and The NBA Academies Women’s Programme camp will also include a variety of NBA Cares and Jr. NBA community outreach efforts with youth in New Delhi in partnership with local community organisations, including basketball clinics for more than 150 youth from the Reliance Foundation Jr. NBA program and the NBA Basketball Schools in New Delhi. These programmes will highlight the power of sport to promote cultural understanding while teaching the importance of a healthy, active lifestyle and the values of the game, including teamwork, respect, determination and community.

Current NBA assistant coaches Bret Brielmaier (Nets), Darvin Ham (Atlanta Hawks), Ryan Saunders (Minnesota Timberwolves), and Mike Wells (Utah Jazz) will also serve as BWB Asia 2018 coaches. Patrick Hunt (President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches; Australia) will be the camp director. Casey Smith (Mavericks) will serve as the camp’s athletic trainer.

The NBA revealed the list of 66 players from 16 countries in Asia/Oceania - 40 boys and 26 girls - who have been invited to the camp next week. The participating Indian players are:

• Girls: Khushi Ahlawat, Riya Baliyan, Priyanka Behal, Siya Deodhar, Rajvai Desai, Khushi Dongre, Monica Jayakumar, Annmariya Johny, Sunishka Kartik, Neha Karva, Grishma Niranjan, Sanjana Ramesh, Radha Rani, Sreekala Rani, Pushpa Senthil Kumar, Asmat Taunque, Vaishnavi Yadav, Ann Mary Zacariah.
• Boys: Princepal Singh, Amaan Sandhu, Prashant Tomar, Harpreet Singh, Priyanshu, Harshwardhan Tomar, Pritish Kokate.

All of the Indian girls in the programme are also participants in the NBA Academies Women's Programme. Many of these young women have already made a mark for India in the youth stage, such as Pushpa Senthil Kumar who captained the national squad in the U16 FIBA Asia Championship for Women last year and Vaishnavi Yadav, who was the MVP of the recent Junior Nationals in Ludhiana. In the boys' fray, Princepal Singh and Amaan Sandhu are both NBA Academy India prospects. Princepal, Prashant Tomar, Harshwardhan Tomar, Priyanshu, and Kokate have all represented India in junior/youth international competitions.

Other BWB camps are planned this year in Serbia and South Africa.