North of the Border Basketball League press release.
(Hamilton, On) The new look North of the Border Basketball League is now offering two divisions consisting of 22 teams as it prepares to begin their second season. With the Elite Men’s & Recreational Men’s Leagues, the NBBL continues on its quest to help foster the growth of the game of basketball North of the Border.
After a successful first campaign, the NBBL showcased a crew of the nations prominent players on a barnstorming exhibition tour of China this past November.
With China being a recent hotbed for international basketball, the NBBL felt it was an ideal opportunity to not only gain experience and exposure for the up-and-coming league, but to see how some of its more prominent players stacked up against international competition. The tour was an immense success and NBBL Men’s Team was able to display the quality of Canadian basketball and have drawn considerable interest from the Chinese Basketball Association and the fans in China.
The Men’s Elite Program this year will be one to remember. The Elite Program now has 14 Elite Men’s teams that consists of the best professional, NCAA, CIS & CCAA talent. These young men aim to stay in game shape over the off-season from their respective programs. The North of the Border Basketball League allows these top athletes from the Southern Ontario area the opportunity to compete against each other at the highest level, pushing each other and learning from each other, game by game.
The league’s 14 teams will compete each Tuesday and Thursday evenings until the end of July out of Redeemer University College, returning the euphoric atmosphere that was enjoyed this past summer. This is truly some of the best talent that the province has to offer and will make for some amazing basketball.
Several of the superb names participating is the NBBL this summer: Brady Heslip, Baylor University and Canada’s Senior Men’s National Team guard, Russell Hicks, former Los Angles Lakers and Iowa Energy center, Ryan Wright, former UCLA Bruin and Oklahoma Sooner, currently playing professionally in Turkey for Gelisim Koleji, Shamar Coombs, currently playing professionally in Kosova for KB Drita, Tyrell Vernon, 2013 NBBL MVP, Tyrone Watson, former New Mexico State University forward and Tramar Sutherland, former University of Arkansas-Little Rock guard, to only name a few.
The season debuts next Tuesday, May 13, 2014 with games being played each Tuesday and Thursday out of Redeemer University College. Games on Tuesdays run from 7:00 to 10:00 PM and Thursdays from 6:30 to 10:30 PM.
For additional information visit: www.northborderbasketball.com
Twitter: @NorthBorderBall
Instagram: @northborderbasketball
Facebook: Facebook.com/NorthOfTheBorderBasketball
Drew Ebanks
