Indian star Kavita Akula gets full college scholarship to play D1 basketball for Grand Canyon University

Seven years ago, the IMG Academy in Florida selected eight Indian teenagers on scholarship to be trained in basketball and educated in the United States. The youngsters developed in different ways and some found more success than others. The biggest name in the group turned out to be Satnam Singh, a seven-footer from Punjab, who in 2015 bypassed college to become the first Indian player to be drafted to the NBA.

But while Satnam hogged the limelight, another star from the original group of eight has blossomed from the shadows.

Talented guard Kavita Akula - from Bhilai, Chhattisgarh - has made history by becoming the first Indian-born female basketball player to receive a full scholarship from a Division 1 college in the United States, the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona. After making a name for herself in two years of junior college at the Garden City Community College (GCCC) in Kansas, this is a major step forward for the 21-year-old.

Akula signed a letter of intent with Grand Canyon on Monday and will be joining them in September this year. ESPN reported that Akula will major in business management and marketing.

More reporting from Aishwarya Kumar for ESPN.com:

Akula had two offers on her plate -- one from Grand Canyon in Phoenix, Arizona and another from Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania -- but she decided to sign with Grand Canyon because of their new head coach, Nicole Powell, who is a former WNBA All-Star.
"Coach Powell has great energy and she is looking for somebody who can lead the team, and I thought I will fit in well," Akula said. "Coach said my experience playing junior college will help the team."

Before she begins her new journey, however, Akula's attentions will be diverted back home. Over the next few months, she will be practicing with India's national women's team as the prepare for the prestigious FIBA Asia Women's Cup, set to be held on home soil in Bengaluru in July. Akula was last part of Team India at the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship where she couldn't break into the rotation. With her game seeing rapid improvements over the last couple of years, she will be expected to play a much bigger role this time around.

At GCCC, Akula led the team in three-pointers in both her freshman and sophomore campaigns, falling five treys short of the school’s career record, set by Marci Johnson from 1999 to 2001. She was a rising star in Chhattisgarh before being picked for the IMG Academy and has played for India at the junior levels in the past. You can read more of her fascinating basketball journey in this older article by Aishwarya Kumar for ESPN.

For second year, UBA holds camp for elite Indian players in the USA

For the second consecutive year, several top players and coaches from India's UBA Basketball League have been taken to Phoenix, Arizona, in the USA for an intense camp. Fifteen players and two coaches will be in intense training from December 10-21, and take part in various basketball-related activities like attending local NBA and NCAA games.

This is the second year that the UBA League - which completed its third season in India earlier this year - have taken its top players to get exposure abroad and improve their games.

The players attending the UBA camp in Phoenix this year are:

• Gurvinder Singh Gill (Punjab Steelers)
• Sartaj Singh (Punjab Steelers)
• Narender Grewal (Pune Peshwas)
• Siddhanth Shinde (Pune Peshwas)
• Ajinkya Mane (Pune Peshwas)
• Gaurav Ohlan (Pune Peshwas)
• Mahesh Padmanabhan (Hyderabad Sky)
• Manu Thomas (Hyderabad Sky)
• Dildar Singh (Mumbai Challengers)
• Prudhvi Reddy (Mumbai Challengers)
• Nikhil (Mumbai Challengers)
• Jairam Jat (Chennai Slam)
• Vikas Mor (Haryana Gold)
• Himanshu Sharma (Haryana Gold)
• Akashdeep Hazra (Haryana Gold)
• Coach: Puneeth Suresh (Bengaluru Beast)
• Coach: Ram Kumar (Pune Peshwas)
  

The players are taking part in two practices per day and will take part in two scrimmages with a local All Star team. Nine American players will be working each day with the Indian players at practice and conditioning, headlined by former San Antonio Spurs and University of Oregon player Alex Scales. There will also be several fun events like seeing a Phoenix Suns game amd an Arizona State game.

Indian-origin girls Sophia Bhasin & Shilpa Tummala become High-School Basketball stars in US

They live in different states and are two amongst thousands and thousands of high-school basketball stars in the USA, but Sophia Bhasin of Cajon High School (San Bernardino, California) and Shilpa Tummala of St. Mary's High School (Phoenix, Arizona) have a genealogical keeping them parallel: they are both of Indian-origin. The two young players have been making waves in the High-School girls basketball circuit in America and have both earned impressive Division I basketball scholarships for college.

Bhasin was born in Punjab, India, and moved to the US when she was 8 years old. She didn't start playing basketball until the 7th grade, but has since developed into a star at Cajun in California. The 5-foot-7 guard has been an important contributor to a side with a 32-3 record that finished fourth in the state of California. She has been a scoring and triple-double threat for her side, averaging 25.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists, and 4.7 steals per game for her team.

Then there's 5-11 Tummala, who was born in Phoenix but her parents moved to America from Andhra Pradesh in India. Tummala is a great inside-outside threat who has worked hard for St. Mary's in Arizona to now find herself ranked at #68 by ESPN HoopGurlz in girls basketball across the US.

Both these young girls have broken traditional barriers set by the Indian cultural upbringing as well as expectations of basketball in the US, where Indian-origin players rarely make a mark. As a reward, both have committed to scholarships to Division-I basketball programmes at major colleges in the US: Sophia Bhasin will be attending Long Island University in New York while Shilpa Tummala has committed to attend the prestigious Harvard University in Massachusetts.

Glenn Nelson of ESPN wrote a special feature on the two Indian-origin girls. Here are some excerpts:

"Honestly, it wasn't very common for an Indian girl to be so actively involved in sports," Tummala said via email. "The fact that I played basketball competitively and devoted so much of my time to basketball shocked many people in my community."

"I do have family back in India," Tummala said. "And yes, most of them know that I am going to play basketball in college. They seem to enjoy the fact that I am going to Harvard next year to play basketball. But, I believe, the 'Harvard' part is what really excites them as they don't know much about my basketball career in America."
Both Tummala and Bhasin have fathers who became active supporters of their basketball pursuits. Bhasin's twin brother, Ranjit, was who dragged her into the sport. She became a quick study, mastering for example the advanced skill of creating jump shots off the dribble, an attribute that is the foundation of her 25.2-point scoring average this season.

Bhasin is a dual citizen of both India and the USA. In a story published for San Bernandino's 'The Sun', Bhasin said that she would be open to representing either country. Let's just hope she chooses us!

Here are excerpts from 'The Sun' article on Sophia Bhasin, written by Pete Marshall:

"It wasn't that hard (moving to the U.S.) because I had been here before and everyone has to learn English in India," Bhasin said.

Bhasin, who now has dual citizenship in India and the U.S., knows she is part of two worlds that don't often cross paths. Not only is she from India but she is a Sikh and attends temple on Sundays in Riverside.
"I don't really consider myself a pioneer," she said. "But I'll always be part of the India community. All of my dad's friends come out and my friends from temple come out and watch me play."
Her father, V.P., who owns businesses in San Bernardino and Upland, was a cricket player as a youth before his career was cut short by a knee injury. He not only is at games but frequently shows up to watch Cajon practice.
"I really wanted to encourage her to play basketball, which she really liked," V.P. said in a phone interview.

"The women's basketball team from India is not very good," V.P. said. "They didn't even qualify for the Olympics (this year). I'd love to see Sophie play for India."
"I'd love to be able to play for India or America," she said. "I'd be proud of myself as a dual citizen."

Wishing both these girls the best of luck in hoops... Even if they don't contribute to basketball in India, I'll be proud to see them succeed as Indians abroad!