City of Basketball Love

Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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The men’s and women’s basketball recruiting calendars both have two live periods this month (women July 7-10 & July 21-24; men July 6-9 & July 25-30) and plenty more big-time events in between.

Grassroots basketball is about to be in full swing with some of the marquee events of the summer taking place (and in some cases already underway) this week and weekend during the first July Live period.

Here’s a quick breakdown of some of the big ones with local teams involved:

BOYS

Nike EYBL Peach Jam
When: July 3-9
Where: Riverview Park Activities Center; North Augusta, S.C.
Who: Top 24 programs from the Nike EYBL
Breakdown: Nike decides its champion by inviting the top 24 teams for a week-long tournament, which began Monday. Teams are broken down into four six-team pools and the top two squads from each pool during five games of pool play, which lasts through Friday, advance to the weekend's championship bracket. 

The favorite and top overall seed in 17U is Team Final. The local program is led by Robert Wright III (Montverde Academy), Thomas Sorber (Archbishop Ryan), Jalil Bethea (Archbishop Wood) and Ahmad Nowell (Imhotep) with Ma’Kye Taylor (Imhotep) another important piece. Wright was the MVP and Bethea was the offensive MVP during the regular season. 

NJ Scholars, headlined by Camden’s Billy Richmond, is another program competing with plenty of local ties. Neumann-Goretti teammates Amir Williams and Khaafiq Myers, St. Joe’s Prep’s Tristen Guillouette and ANC’s Bahsil Laster are joined by Jaron McKie (St. Joe’s Prep) and Shareef Jackson (Roman Catholic), who are playing up an age group after running with the program’s 16s for most of the spring. George School’s Christian Bliss, who recently committed to Virginia, and the PSA Cardinals have a group that could make a run as well.

Under Armour Association Championships
When: July 6-9
Where: Lake Point Champions Center; Cartersville, Ga.
Who: Under Armour’s 32 programs
Breakdown: The Under Armour circuit decides its champion this weekend as well with 32 teams broken down into eight four-team divisions for pool play on Thursday and Friday before the championship brackets begin on Saturday. 

Philly Pride’s 17U group is locally infused with former PCL standouts Izaiah Pasha (Cardinal O’Hara) and Jermai Stewart-Herring (Romanc Catholic) and Malvern Prep’s Ryan Williams among the squads’ headliners. George School 6-11 big man Luke Bevilacqua also joins the group and Jeremiah Williams (Imhotep) will play with the UAA squad after running with the Philly Pride Select group earlier this summer. Bonner’s Kevin Rucker is among the local faces on Delaware-based WeR1.

Adidas Boys 3SSB Championships
When: July 5-9
Where: Rock Hill Sports & Event Center; Rock Hill, S.C.
Who: Adidas Boys 3SSB teams
Breakdown: Adidas will crown its circuit champion with a tournament over the course of the weekend. There are 49 teams in each age bracket, with at least five wins needed to secure the title. K-Low Elite’s 17U squad will play a showcase game against Team Rize on Wednesday before opening against the NY Gauchos in the first round of the tournament on Thursday. Darren Williams (Archbishop Ryan), KJ Cochran (Perkiomen School), Deuce Ketner (Bonner-Prendergast), Ty Mishock (Devon Prep), Pearse McGuinn (Cardinal O’Hara) and Erik Oliver-Bush (Roman Catholic) are some of the locals that highlight the roster.

Hoop Group AC Jam Fest & Summer Jam Fest
When: July 5-7; July 8-9
Where: Atlantic City Convention Center; Atlantic CIty, N.J.& Spooky Nook; Manheim, Pa.
Who: Regional Teams & Other
Breakdown: The Hoop Group has a busy weekend ahead with a pair of boys live period events taking place. The AC Jam Fest will have 34 courts going filled with more than 200 teams at the Convention Center in AC before the Summer Jam Fest packs in 175 teams on 30 courts at Spooky Nook. Philly-based independent programs like PA Coalition, BW Elite, Philly Revolution and East Coast Power have had success throughout the spring and early summer. Some younger circuit teams like Team Final Red EYBL are also scheduled to compete in various age groups and levels of brackets, all trying to end the weekend with one or two pieces of hardware to show off. There will be plenty of DI, DII and DIII talent on the court at both events.

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GIRLS

NIKE Tournament of Champions and NIKE Nationals
When: July 7-10
Where: McCormick Place; Chicago, Ill.
Who: NIKE EYBL Teams & regional programs
Breakdown: The convention center in Chicago will play host to both the NIKE Nationals, which will crown the EYBL’s champion with a tournament, as well as the Tournament of Champions, which will bring together teams from around the country to compete in seven different tournament brackets. Philly Rise’s 17U squad will have a chance to compete for the NIKE Nationals title, winning the platinum bracket in Texas earlier this summer. The program won the 16U championship last season. The roster features talent from PA, DE, MD and NJ, including Rutgers Prep star Mikayla Blakes. Bensalem’s Amber Howard is an important piece from the area. Elsewhere in the NIKE Nationals bracket, Priyanka Ponnam (George School), suits up for an Exodus NYC squad that should be a factor as well.

A few local programs hope to add some impressive hardware in various Tournament of Champions brackets. The Lady Runnin’ Rebels and Philly Belles both have teams in the 17U Diamond field and LGB Select and Philly Roots are slated to compete in the 17U Emerald bracket.

Run 4 Roses Classic & Championships
When: July 6-8; July 9-11
Where: Kentucky Exposition Center; Louisville, Ky.
Who: GUAA teams along with long list of others
Breakdown: The Run 4 Roses lays claim as the largest exposure basketball tournament in the U.S. Last season, 2,766 teams played at the Kentucky Exposition Center to set a record for team attendance at a youth basketball event. There are teams from Under Armour, Adidas, Select Events and several other grassroots circuits signed up for the event. The Comets and BBA (GUAA), Philly Rise National, Hunting Park Warriors, Fencor, Heat Hoops and Chester County Storm are among the local programs that will take the court during the massive weekend of hoops, which includes GUAA Session II from July 9-11.