Second season of basketball talent search programme ACG-NBA Jump gets launched in India

Well, that escalated quickly.

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.

It's been a year of rapid growth for NBA India, and young Indian talents can now have realistic dreams of seeing their potential recognized, honed, and improved to take the jump to the next level of the game. Earlier this week, the NBA announced the schedule of the second season of the ACG-NBA Jump programme, to continue its efforts in finding the top Indian players and boost up their talent pool for their upcoming Academy, set to open in Delhi-NCR by April.

The second season of ACG-NBA Jump was officially launched at the Kalina University indoor court in Mumbai in the presence of former NBA champion Shawn Marion, who was in India this week to promote the game of basketball. The programme that commenced this year would go on to provide the top 24 prospects with scholarships and training at the recently announced elite basketball training centre.

"The ACG NBA Jump programme, a feeder to NBA Academy India, has potential and a great opportunity for all the kids here in India," said Marion, "I wish we had a similar setup when we grew up. I wish I can be here for the entire programme and see through the talent that comes through. I wish the participants in India make the most of the opportunity created by ACG and NBA. India has a bright future of basketball players."

"The top 24 prospects from this year's programme will have the opportunity to receive full scholarships and NBA-level coaching at NBA Academy India when it is scheduled to open in April," said NBA India's Managing Director Yannick Colaco, "I encourage players between the ages of 13 and 17 to visit www.acgnbajump.com to learn more about India's largest national basketball talent search to date."

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 first session, which took place in Mumbai on the 3rd of December has already been completed. 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.

ACG-NBA Jump Tryouts Schedule:

• December 3, 2016 – Mumbai - Mumbai University Indoor Stadium, Kalina, University Complex.
• December 10, 2016 – Chennai - Santhome School Indoor Stadium.
• December 15, 2016 – Delhi - Thyagaraj Stadium.
• December 17, 2016 – Ludhiana - Guru Nanak Indoor Stadium.
• January 6, 2027 – Kochi - RSC Kadavanthara Indoor Stadium.
• January 14, 2017 – Kolkata - WBBA Grounds, Red Road, Kolkata.

Eligibility criteria
1. Applicants should be born between 1st Jan 2000 and 31st Dec 2004
2. Competition is only for male participants

Check the ACG-NBA Jump website to register first, find out all the eligibility and registration details, and specific timings for each tryout in each city.

The second phase of the programme, a three-day national training camp, would culminate with the selection of the 24 prospects who would receive scholarships and training at NBA Academy India.

Amjyot Singh's Team Hamamatsu to compete in FIBA 3x3 All Stars in Doha (Qatar)

Whether he is enjoying success or disappointments, having ups or downs, there is one clear certainty of India's basketball star Amjyot Singh: he isn't going to stop. Amjyot has been involved in a never-ending cycle of hoops, from playing professionally in Japan's D-League, to leading India to big international wins, to starring in FIBA 3x3 roles both in Japan first and then at the 3x3 World Tour in UAE, and up to declaring for the NBA's D-League draft. After a steady stream of progress, the last of those ambitions - the D-League - didn't prove fruitful this year. But Amjyot's response, as always, is to continue ballin'.

A few weeks after the disappointment of NBA D-League draft night, Amjyot is back on the court, back with his teammates of Tokyo's 'Team Hamamatsu' to take part in the final FIBA 3x3 event of the calendar year. Amjyot and his squad finished second in the 3x3 World Tour last month, and his superstar performances have now carried him and his team to the FIBA 3x3 All Stars in Doha (Qatar), starting on Friday, November 18.

There will be 8 teams participating in a direct knockout contest at the 3x3 All Stars event.

After his performances in UAE, Amjyot was named as the highest ranked 3×3 player in the "Rest of the world" category. His Team Hamamatsu are a team rich with Indian-origin talent, also featuring Inderbir Singh Gill (USA), Bikramjit Gill (Canada), along with Japan's Chihiro Ikeda.

List of Participating Teams this Year - via Ekalavyas.

• Novi Sad Al Wahda, UAE
• Saskatoon, Canada
• Doha, Qatar
• Hamamatsu, Japan
• Ljubljana, Slovenia
• NY Harlem NBA, USA
• McGill U, Canada
• Manila, Philippines

Hamamatsu has been seeded 4th and will face hosts Team Doha in the opening quarterfinal game on 18th Nov, from 8:30 pm IST.

Hoopdarshan Episode 39: Satnam Singh readies for the new NBA D-League season

A little over a year ago, Satnam Singh made history by becoming the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA. After spending a season with the D-League, Satnam readies for another season with the Texas Legends. The 7-foot, 20-year-old phenon makes a comeback on India's finest basketball podcast, Hoopdarshan, to talk to hosts Kaushik Lakshman and Karan Madhok about striving for more time to prove his talent, his off-court life in the D-League, NBA ambitions, and finding life-size cutouts of himself around Frisco.

In addition, Hoopdarshan's hosts also discuss Palpreet Singh getting drafted into the NBA D-League, Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh's chances in the future.



Hoopdarshan is the truest voice of Indian basketball, and since we're such hopeless fans of the game, it will become the voice of everything basketball related we love, from the NBA to international hoops, too. On every episode of Hoopdarshan, we will be inviting a special guest to interview or chat to about a variety of topics. With expert insight from some of the brightest and most-involved people in the world of Indian basketball, we hope to bring this conversation to a many more interested fans, players, and followers of the game.

Make sure to follow Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud or search for 'Hoopdarshan' on the iTunes Store! Auto-sync Hoopdarshan to your preferred podcast app NOW!

Hoopdarshan can be found on...

• - iTunes: Hoopdarshan 
• - Hoopdarshan on Soundcloud 
• - On Twitter: @Hoopdarshan 
• - Facebook.com/Hoopdarshan 

Indian basketball player Palpreet Singh (22) drafted to the NBA D-League by the Long Island Nets

During the NBA D-League's All Star Game - the 'D' stands for 'Development' - there used to be an event showcased as the 'Dream Factory', which includes a series of basketball skills competitions. 'Dream Factory' is a catchy, positive name for the event, but it also represents the larger aspirations of the D-League: it serves as an important rung in the ladder for basketball players to realise their higher goals, the NBA, the ultimate dream.

On Sunday, October 30th, over 180 aspirants entered the D-League's draft to climb up to that important rung in fulfilling their dream. The Erie BayHawks picked first, selecting Anthony Brown as the first new entrant into the Dream Factory. And for the next few hours, over a course of six rounds, a total of 22 teams drafted the rights to many more players.

But this year's D-League draft was extra special, because first for the first time, it had Indian representation. Three international Indian talents, all bigs in their early 20s from Punjab - Amjyot Singh, Amritpal Singh, and Palpreet Singh - had signed eligibility contracts for the draft. By the end of the night, Palpreet Singh, the youngest of the trio with the most exposure to D-League squads over recent months, was the only one drafted.

Palpreet Singh Brar, a 6-foot-9 power forward born in a village in south western Punjab, was picked 11th in the sixth round of the NBA D-League draft (80th overall) by the Long Island Nets, an affiliate of the NBA's Brooklyn Nets. Palpreet thus became the first Indian to ever be drafted into the NBA D-League. The selection paid off six months of concentrated efforts by NBA India and Palpreet to get in shape for the draft, succeed in the D-League open tryouts, and work with teams in individual workouts. Now that he has been drafted, Palpreet will be part of the Long Island Nets training squad from which 10 players will be picked for the final squad.

The D-League already features another Indian, Satnam Singh, who last summer made history by becoming the first Indian to be drafted into the NBA (Dallas Mavericks) and has since been stashed into the D-League's Texas Legends.

"I am happy with the efforts I have put in and I will continue to work hard with Long Island Nets as this is just the beginning," Palpreet said, quoted earlier today by the Indian Express.

Born in the village of Doda in Sri Muktsar Sahib district, Palpreet was introduced to the game by his father when he was 16. His raw talent and potential carried him over to Ludhiana, the city, which has become Punjab and India’s model basketball nursery, where he was briefly roommates with Satnam. Palpreet’s big international breakthrough came with India’s junior squad at the 2012 FIBA U18 Asia Championship in Mongolia. Over the next three years, he played for India’s senior team and secured a backup spot behind our current superstar Punjabi frontcourt of Amjyot Singh and Amrit Pal Singh. He was part of the Indian squad that defeated China at the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup.

The biggest break of his young career when he won the first-ever ACG-NBA Jump Programme. The programme was a first-of-its-kind talent search programme to find the best young basketball player in India. After scouring through multiple cities over several months, ACG-NBA Jump held a final with 32 of the best players in Greater Noida, from whom Palpreet shined brightest and emerged as national champ. With his victory, he won an opportunity to be trained by NBA level coaches and participate in the 2016 NBA Development League tryouts. After being picked, Brar underwent a 45-day rigorous camp in Kerala to build up his fitness, agility and strength to NBA standards, before heading to the USA to continue his workouts and impress at the D-League tryouts.

Palpreet comes from a humble, farming background. His father, Phirjinder Singh Brar, shared his joy with The Tribune earlier. "I got a phone call around 2 am on Monday that Palpreet was picked by the Long Islands Net in the NBA D-League. This is the best Diwali gift to us and a proud moment for the family of farmers." He is currently posted as a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) with the Railways in Ludhiana.

The Long Island Nets acquired the draft rights of five players, including Palpreet, on Sunday.

While it was a great day for Palpreet, his fellow Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) alums Amjyot Singh (24) and Amritpal Singh (25) didn't share his luck. Neither of the two big men - two of India's finest players - were picked on Sunday afternoon, despite being superstars on the Asian stage and playing at a high level last year in Japan's D-League. Unlike Palpreet, who was given the resources to prepare for the draft and gained recognition with the D-League teams over the last few months, Amjyot and Amritpal were busy with the Indian national team and were relatively unknown to the D-League. Despite having a bigger impact back home, their older age and the mystery behind their games may have forced several teams to pass them over.

Still, it's not all gloom and doom for the duo. Amjyot and Amritpal will surely have gained a lot from this exposure at the D-League draft as now, at least, their names are being mentioned as potential free agents. For now, they will be hoping to work out with some teams and possibly earn free agent contracts. For the future, they can take heed from Palpreet's success and realize that a few months of concentrated hard work could prepare them for the D-League stage, too.

Meanwhile, Palpreet will hope to fight for his place at the Nets' training camp and hopefully gain a roster spot before the new D-League season begins. If he makes it, he will join Satnam Singh as the second Indian in the league. We are hoping that both of them can continue to impress so that, soon, the 'Dream Factory' turns their NBA fantasies into a reality!