BFI announces 2017-18 seasons of Indian School and College Basketball Leagues

After a brief hiatus, the Basketball Federation of India's (BFI) premier nationwide school basketball league returned to action last year. Now, cleared of some of the cobwebs blocking Indian basketball, the BFI is set to bring back with a blast both the Indian School Basketball League (ISBL) and the Indian College Basketball League (ICBL) for the 2017-18 season in 22 states and territories around the country.

ISBL will be held between December 25, 2017 to March 15, 2018 in each participating states. ICBL will be held between April 18, 2018 to July 31, 2018. The winners of the Boys and Girls categories in School Leagues and Men and Women categories in College Leagues from each state will qualify for the Indian School and College Basketball Leagues - National Championship later in 2018.

According to the BFI, the ISBL and ICBL will create a structured, self-sustaining system which will serve as the platform to increase organised basketball participation at grassroots level and subsequently serve as the talent development system for the Indian National Teams. These leagues are organized in such a way that it extends to a period of around 6-8 weeks where each team plays only one match every week. Also, the School Leagues have certain regulations which helps each and every player to get a good amount of playing time to showcase their talent.

List of states organizing ISBL and ICBL for the 2017-18 season

• Indian School Basketball League: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Odisha, Chandigarh, Telangana, Gurajat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir.
• Indian College Basketball League: Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Odisha, Chandigarh, Telangana, Gurajat, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Rajasthan.

The previous editions of the School and College League have helped provide the Federation a wider talent pool out of which many of the top performers went on to represent India in different age groups. In 2014-15, Baladhaneshwar Poizamozhi from the ISBL and Muin Bek Hafeez from the ICBL both went on to make their Indian national debuts this year.

Rs. 25,000 will be awarded to the State Level Champions in both ISBL and ICBL, whereas the first and second runners-up will get Rs. 15,000 and 10,000 each, respectively. The details, including dates and locations, for the National Championships in both leagues will be announced soon.

Hopefully, the return of these comprehensive leagues can strengthen the backbone of grassroots Indian basketball and make it easier for talented players to get a platform to shine and improve.

3D Canada win 2017 William Jones Cup for Men - India (0-9) finish at last pace

At the 2017 William Jones Cup for Men in Chinese Taipei, an invitational tournament held mainly among Asian squads as preparation for the larger FIBA Asia Cup next month, the two best teams ended up being dominant club squads from outside the continent. The squad from 3D Global Sports Canada and Atletas All-Star Lithuania finished with the tournament's best records (8-1) after nine days of breathless action concluded on July 23rd. With the best point-differential, 3D Canada lifted the championship trophy on Sunday at the Taipei Peace International Basketball Hall.

India, led by brand-new NBA-experienced head coach Phil Weber, suffered from injuries and absences and sent a depleted squad for the tournament. With most of the squads present ranked higher, India were always going to be underdogs at this event, and despite a few standout individual performances, they returned from Taipei without notching a win and finishing at ninth (last) place.

Captained by Rikin Pethani, Team India's best player, as expected, was the 6-foot-8 forward Amjyot Singh. Amjyot had to carry the heavy load for India's campaign in the absence of Vishesh Bhriguvanshi, Yadwinder Singh (injuries), Satnam Singh, Palpreet Singh, and Amritpal Singh (international obligations). Their absence will give other veterans and up-and-comers like Pratham Singh, Basil Philip, Prudhvi Reddy, Baladhaneshwar Poiyamozhi, Gurvinder Singh Gill, and Prasanna Sivakumar a chance to shine.

India's final scores at 39th William Jones Cup

• July 15: Iraq beat India 86-68.
• July 16: South Korea beat India 92-67.
• July 17: Chinese Taipei Blue beat India 101-80.
• July 18: Iran beat India 88-44.
• July 19: Atletas All-Star Lithuania beat India 102-79.
• July 20: Chinese Taipei White beat India 117-87.
• July 21: 3D Canada beat India 121-72.
• July 22: Philippines beat India 101-70.
• July 23: Japan beat India 77-61.

The 0-9 record will cause some sullen faces for the national team stars, but the silver lining to the dark cloud is that Weber was able to get his first outing in rapid-fire succession and get a crash course in competitive basketball for India and our opponents. Leading India with 18.1 points per game, Amjyot Singh finished as the tournament's fifth-highest scorer. Muin Bek Hafeez and Anil Kumar Gowda also earned valuable playing time for India in the course of the nine games.

India will now turn their gaze to Lebanon, which will be hosting the massive 2017 FIBA Asia Cup from August 8-20. India is placed in Group A with Iran, Jordan and Syria. The loss to Iran will give Weber some scouting knowledge to build upon, and at full-strength, India has the talent to challenge for second-place in their group. Hopefully, Weber has the squad at the best of their health at his disposal and finally get this debut victory as national team coach under the brighter lights next month.

Jeppiaar Institute of Technology (Chennai) to send basketball contingent to USA for IMG Academy camp

One of India's top institutions for basketball talent and results, the Jeppiaar Institute of Technology (JIT), is now striving to help its top players get even better. JIT, which is based in Sri Perumbadur just outside Chennai in Tamil Nadu, is sending four of its best players and their head coach to the world-famous IMG Academy facility in Brandenton, Florida, USA for a five-week training camp from June 17 to July 23.

The four JIT athletes (all from Tamil Nadu) and coach will be hosted at the IMG campus. JIT's Managing Director N Marie Wilson will join the contingent to Florida.

The IMG Acdemy is famous for having an incredibly varied and holistic programme for a range of sports. Most importantly for India, this is the same academy that trained and educated Satnam Singh for five years, the big man who became India's first player drafted into the NBA last year. Its basketball programme has produced Jimmy Butler (Chicago Bulls) and Michael Beasley (Houston Rockets), among other professional athletes.

The partnership between JIT and IMG was facilitated by Pursuit India, the talent management division of Ekalavyas Consultancy. To help improve JIT's (already dominant) performances at basketball events and championships in India, JIT's MD Wilson worked with Pursuit's Vishnu Ravi Shankar to help land JIT players to the summer basketball camp at IMG.

The IMG experience for these players from JIT will be invaluable in teaching them to be more compatible with a different and more strenuous brand of basketball. The technical experts of IMG, with their case-to-case evaluation of players might also be able to offer more of an insight than other coaches in India who might not have the same equipment or time to do so.

"The objective is to develop skill sets that will allow the players to compete at the Inter-University and Inter-College levels," Wilson said. He hoped that this turns out to be a pioneering decision, which will be replicated in the future, while also stressing that he would like to prepare the players to play in professional leagues should such opportunities present themselves.

Pursuit's Shankar added, "It’s a great step forward by Mr. Wilson and the management at Jeppiaar. Even five weeks at an academy like IMG can do a world of good for young players and help them become future stars." He also said that he hopes that other universities will be able to identify this as an opportunity and will opt for it going forward.

JIT contingent for IMG Academy's Summer Basketball Camp

• Anantharaj Eswaran (19)
• Jeyavenkatesh Kothandaraja (20)
• Navas Jaleel (17)
• Muin Bek Hafeez (20)
• Coach: Ravishankar

Muin Bek Hafeez, one of the players making the trip shared his excitement, "My teammates and I are excited about learning from players and coaches who have experience in the NBA and I hope that this will help me in my career going forward."