Unleashing Potential: A Hub for Young Talent
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The NCAA has held its NCAA College Basketball Academies over the past week in Memphis. The Men’s College Basketball Academy was held from July 24 through July 27, then the Women’s College Basketball Academy got underway on July 28 and will wrap up on July 31.
The academies were hosted at the Memphis Sports and Event Center.
Scouting and Skills: A Platform for Prospects
In conjunction with the men’s basketball National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA), the NCAA welcomed hundreds of basketball prospects to Memphis. Each athlete had to qualify for an academy by participating either in USA Basketball’s 17U 3-on-3 or by participating in USA Basketball’s 5-on-5 youth national championships.
The NABC and WBCA – and its coaching members – also had the opportunity to nominate up to 400 players from the 2024, 2025 and 2026 graduating classes.
The NCAA College Basketball Academy technically falls into an evaluation period for college coaches, meaning that college coaches can attend the academies live in order to evaluate prospective recruits. The events in Memphis are the only events that are occurring during this specific college evaluation period.
Athletes participating in the academy will be put through drill work, skill development sessions and will also play in games. In addition to the on-court activities, the NCAA has also planned life skills sessions to educate the prospective college athletes about NCAA eligibility and compliance, NIL rules and regulations, agents and the transfer portal.
Nomination Dilemmas: A Question of Strategy
The nomination process has been called into question leading up to the respective men’s and women’s academies. If college coaches know they want to recruit a student-athlete, would they nominate him/her to attend another event where he/she could be discovered by other schools? It will be interesting to see if the NCAA amends its nomination process for future basketball academy events.