INDIANAPOLIS --- The NCAA will host approximately 250 prep basketball players between grades nine and 12 at its seventh annual First Team Summer Conference, August 7-9 in Tucson, Arizona.
The First Team Summer Conference provides male basketball prospects with resources to help them and their parents navigate the collegiate recruiting process and understand the role athletics plays in the overall educational environment.
The NCAA First Team staff work throughout the year to develop the summer conference with assistance from former coaches, NCAA staff and educators to reinforce the importance of academics and athletics. The three-day conference features sessions on recruiting, education, life skills, health and physical fitness, study habits, preparation for college, time management and table and social etiquette.
The program reinforces how to achieve goals, places emphasis on nutrition and training, offers mock recruiting situations and helps the students understand the transition from high school. Representatives from state high school athletic associations are also present and help emphasize the role of their organizations.
Additional conference highlights include guest speakers from all levels of basketball, including current and former student-athletes, who talk to First Team participants about their high school and collegiate experiences. This year’s speakers include former coaches Sonny Smith, Gene Keady and Willis Wilson. Also speaking will be Dr. David Malebranche, who will discuss healthy living; basketball skills trainer Chris Thomas, who will talk about fitness; and college referee Tony Greene, who will discuss good sportsmanship habits. Past speakers have included John Thompson, Reggie Minton, Bill Raftery, John Lucas, Charles Barkley, Jarrett Jack, Michael Curry, Clark Kellogg, Doug Collins and Jim Jackson.
“The Summer Conference becomes more and more special each year, and it is nice to watch camaraderies formed at the conference that grow into ongoing friendships,” said Anne Little, director of the NCAA First Team program. “The conference has grown now that we have participants from across the country and three classes in college. Each year the conference marks the start of another program year as we work with young high school student-athletes and their parents toward the goal of becoming NCAA Division I student-athletes. Providing them with a well rounded, informative, engaging and memorable event is a vital part of what we do.”
First Team is a year-round program designed to help highly talented prospective student-athletes and their parents as they experience the NCAA recruiting process. Participants receive monthly communication, attend the Summer Conference and remain in the program throughout high school. New candidates complete an application process, which is reviewed by a committee to determine selection. The committee consists of NCAA staff and representatives from national coaching associations and high school federations. Program participants are identified based on recommendations and their athletic ability. Participants must maintain a C grade average in school in order to stay in the program.
The First Team program is the result of recommendations from a subcommittee of the NCAA Basketball Study Group, later named the NCAA Basketball Issues Committee. The subcommittee, which was created in 1998, asked that education initiatives be developed to address negative influences impacting the game of basketball, including a year-round mentoring and educational program.
First Team conferences have been held in Portsmouth, Virginia (2006), Colorado Springs, Colorado (2005), Charlotte, North Carolina (2004), Tampa, Florida (2003, 2007) and in Indianapolis (2002). The NCAA partners with the National Federation of State High School Associations and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) on the First Team program and agenda.
For more information on First Team, visit www.ncaafirstteam.org.
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