12 basketball stars from UBA League in India head to USA for 3rd annual pro camp

For the third consecutive year, UBA India will take twelve of the brightest Indian stars to the USA for the annual UBA Pro Performance Camp. The camp will be held in Phoenix, Arizona, from December 4-15, featuring the Indian players, top training professionals with the UBA, and dozens of additional American/NRI professional players and trainers based in the US. According to UBA India, the training camp is designed to help the players maximize their skills as a basketball player, increase their overall strength as an athlete and learn to train in ways which they can maintain when returning home.

Photo courtesy: UBA India

"Every day, our goal is to be stronger and faster than we were the day before," said Jody Basye, the UBA's Director of Coaching. "This year, more players are coming, increasing the talent pool from around the world to play in the UBA. This camp plays a big role in making the game even more exciting for our fans in India."

The UBA has already held for short-term pro leagues in India over the past two-and-a-half years. Last year's Season 4 - which featured several of India's top players and foreign imports - was the grandest showcase for the league yet and was won by the Mumbai Challengers.

The players heading to the USA for the 3rd Pro Performance camp are:

• Chukwunanu Agu (Chennai Slam)
• Ajinkya Mane (Pune Peshwas)
• Gurwinder "Garry" Singh Gill (Punjab Steelers)
• Jagdeep Singh Bains (Mumbai Challengers)
• Muin Bek Hafeez (Delhi Capitals)
• Narender Grewal (Pune Peshwas)
• Nikhil Kumar (Mumbai Challengers)
• Palpreet Singh Brar (Bengaluru Beast)
• Prudhvi Reddy (Mumbai Challengers)
• Rikin Pethani (Chennai Slam)
• Siddhant Shinde (Pune Peshwas)
• Yadwinder Singh (Haryana Gold)

Photo courtesy: UBA India

According to the UBA, invitations were based on the players' performances in last season's league, but missing on the list is Season 4's Indian MVP Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (injured). Big man duo of Amjyot Singh and Amritpal Singh are busy with their obligations in foreign leagues. The list does include Na number of players who have made recent national team appearances for India, including Gurwinder Gill, Jagdeep Singh, Muin Bek, Palpreet Singh, Prudhvi Reddy, Rikhin Pethani, and Yadwinder Singh.

Additionally, up to 36 additional international professional players from North America, including players of Indian origin, will be attending the camp, vying for a coveted spot on a UBA team for Season 5. These will include UBA Season 4 International MVP Dermaine Crockrell, Jimmy Scroggins, Pierre Newton, Brendon Pineda, Alex Scales and Inderbir Gill, all four of whom played in Season 4.

The players will be put through a rigorous 2-weeks of training. Read more about it here.

Mumbai Challengers win UBA Basketball League Season 4 championship in Goa

A month ago, before the start of the most-hyped and stacked fourth season of the UBA Basketball League, the Mumbai Challengers looked like the squad with the greatest embarrassment of riches. The team, coached by former India international coach Jora Singh, featured a dangerous balance of both Indian and international stars. Players with international experience like Jagdeep Singh Bains and Prasanna Venkatesh shared the court with American stars Inderbir Singh Gill, Jimmy Scroggins, and the brief-NBA veteran, Alex Scales. With these many weapons, the result was either going to be spectacular success or a disappointing implosion.

A month later, Jora Singh's squad put to rest any doubts over chemistry issues around this great collection of talent. Mumbai completed their 2-0 sweep over the Bengaluru Beast in the Best-of-Three finals series in Goa on Wednesday, March 15, to be crowned UBA Basketball League champions for the first time. The season's championship series (knockout stages) were held at the Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium in Goa from March 10. The Finals were a continuation of a month-long period of success for Mumbai, who had finished with a league-best record of 5-1 during the regular season in Chennai and swept last year's silver medalists Punjab Steelers in the semi-finals 2-0.

At one point or another, all of Mumbai's big names stepped up in sealing the deal for the challengers. Scales and Scroggins contributed 34 and 32 points respectively in Game 1 to down Bengaluru 110-95. Scales doubled-up with 34 again in Game 2, Inderbir added 33, and Scroggins 21 to win the high-octane Game 2 118-105. Bains and Nikhil also made valuable contributions for the champions. On the losing side, the combination of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Chris Solomon, Pratham Singh, and Palpreet Singh Brar played well enough to get to this stage but ultimately couldn't handle Mumbai's firepower in the Finals.

Bhriguvanshi was named the tournament's Indian MVP last week, while the foreign MVP award went to Punjab's Dermaine Crockell.

The UBA announced that they will be holding their first-ever All Star game between the best players of the North and South Division in Goa on Thursday, March 16. On the day of the Finals, they also held their first-ever Slam Dunk and Three-Point Contests.

UBA names Vishesh Bhriguvanshi (Bengaluru) and Dermaine Crockell (Punjab) Season 4 MVPs

The first stage of UBA Basketball League's fourth season, held in Chennai, is over. Now the top four teams - Mumbai Challengers, Punjab Steelers, Pune Peshwas, and Bengaluru Beast - have taken their talents to West Beach, I mean, to Goa, to play in the tournament's Semi-Final and Final stage.

But before the final week, the UBA celebrated the best performing individuals from the regular season. Usually, the UBA has given one Most Valuable Player (MVP) award every season. But this time around, with the addition of a dozen foreign players boosting up the talent level around the league, they have handed out two MVP awards, one each the the tournament's best foreign and Indian player. Not surprisingly, both awards went to new additions to the league, which has been boosted by the arrival of both foreign players and international-level Indian players this season.

UBA's Indian MVP award went to India's superstar swingman from Varanasi and the Bengaluru Beast, Vishesh Bhriguvanshi. One of the most successful and popular players in Indian basketball, Bhriguvanshi led Bengaluru to a 3-3 record in the regular season, averaging 28.3 points, 8.8 rebounds and 10 assists (tied for 2nd). During the course of the season, he recorded UBA's first-ever triple double with a 29 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists performance in a win over Pune. Another highlight of his season was the 57 point, 11 assist game against Hyderabad. Bhriguvanshi was awarded Bajaj Pulsar RS 200 with his MVP trophy.

The foreign MVP award went to the 6'2" American guard Dermaine Crockell, formerly of the Minnesota State University and now playing with the Punjab Steelers in the UBA. Crockell had two 50-point outings during the course of the season. He averaged 41.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, 5.4 assists and led Punjab to a 2-4 record before winning the subsequent play-in game for the semis. He was awarded $2500 for this MVP achievement.

Both these players are still in the tournament with their teams in the semi-finals in Goa. Winning MVP is just the first step of the process: will one of them be able to cap off this individual achievement with team success and bring home the Season 4 title?