The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Basketball Federation is bringing the Caribbean Tip-Off Basketball Showcase back for its second consecutive year. And when the event is held from November 1-3, the Bahamas will feature two All-Star teams instead of the local school teams.

Federation president Mario Bowleg said the showcase is an event that allows the BBF to bring a lot of exposure to the local players in the Bahamas as they compete against teams from the United States, Canada and Finland.

Through the Tip-Off Classic, Bowleg said they are also seeking to provide athletic scholarships for some of their players to go on and play at the next level in the United States and Canada.

David Maron, one of the tournament organisers, said they are looking at having five teams from the United States, including Hargrave Military Academy, NBA Without Borders and Helsinki Academy.

“A lot of these teams have produced players who have gone on to play division one and professional basketball in the NBA,” Maron said. “So we are hoping that there will be players here who will go on and play as well.”

Unlike last year when high school teams played in the tournament, there will be two teams from the Bahamas who will be matched against the visiting teams so that they can get the exposure.

One of the Bahamian teams will be made up of players representing the northern Bahamas, comprising of Grand Bahama, Bimini and Abaco and the other will be the central and southern Bahamas, including New Providence.

The coaches for both teams will be selected based on their involvement in the federation’s national team programme, according to Bowleg.

He said they will use the pre-season tournaments in Abaco, Andros, New Providence and Grand Bahama to select their best 12 players to form their two teams.

“It’s all about identifying the next best thing,” Bowleg said. “We want to put the best teams together so we can allow the players to get the best exposure possible.”

Maron said they will have the opportunity to do that based on the format that they have designed. “When we put this together, we wanted to see how we could match the teams up against each other,” Maron said. “We have college teams who will be done to recruit Bahamian players if they so desire.”

A total of six games will be played each day, starting at 9 am. On the final day of competition, Maron said they will hold an All-Star game between the top players selected from the competition.

Steve Barnes, the technical director for the federation, said they want to ensure that the teams are competitive against the visiting teams.

“We have Flo Hoops coming to broadcast the games live streaming, so it’s going to be more exposed,” he stated. “So from a technical standpoint, we want to get our best talent on the floor so we can expose the Bahamas.”

Barnes said they are looking forward to the corporate Bahamas coming on board and assisting them because they are looking at making it a quality showcase of talent.

And Chris DeMarco, the new head coach of the men’s national basketball team, said the Tip Off is a great way to expose the growth and development of Bahamas Basketball.

“To be the best, you have to play the best, so this is just a tremendous opportunity for these guys to play against the best high school players in the world,” he said. “So I’m excited about that because it would help us to develop guys not just for the future national team, but to become better citizens in whatever jobs they choice.

“There’s a ton of talent here. When you think about DeAndre Ayton and Buddy Hield coming from just 400,000 people, there is a ton of talent here. I do think that the structure and everything coming together will only help these kids to be placed in better situations.”

Heather Smith, SuperClubs Breezes’ sales manager, said they are honored to be able to host the players when they come in at their all-exclusive resort.

“We are very excited about the event and we are happy to have the teams come and stay with us in October,” she summed up.

The BBF is expected to release the list of teams and the schedule of games next month.

Last year, the showcase featured Bahamians Kai Jones with the Brewster Academy out of New Hampshire and Sammy Hunter, Leroy Addlery and Deante Dean from the BC Christian Academy out of British Colombia.

There’s not expected to be any top tier players coming in from any of the visiting teams this year.