Part 1: 2024 NCAA College Basketball Academy Was Strong. But is it a Needed End to July Eval Sessions Given the Current Calendar?
Philly Rise - 10th Grade Champions of the NCAA Basketball Academy
NCAA College Basketball Academy
July 27-29, 2024 | Rock Hill, SC
In its second year, the event was conducted by the NCAA with the assistance of USA Basketball. Held July 27-29, 2024, at the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina, the 2024 NCAA College Basketball Academy consisted of two separate events run concurrently. In part 1 of this report, this well run but convoluted event is examined. In part 2, players of note will be discussed.
The USA Basketball 2024 Women’s Club Championships contained two divisions. The 10th Grade Division consisted of 24 invited club teams with players of the 2026 class and younger. The 9th Grade Division consisted of 16 invited club teams with players of the 2027 class and younger. The teams were selected from the various travel ball circuits with players who played up into an older division being allowed to drop back into their own graduating class. Thus, the teams often did not have rosters that exactly matched those that had just played in the prior viewing period. In both divisions there was pool play ending in bracket play with a champion crowned in each class. Depth of talent in the club championship was very good. Kudos to those involved in selecting which teams from the respective circuits were invited!
The second part consisted of the NCAA Individual Pathway where players registered and were assigned to teams. Here players from the 2025 (rising senior) class were in attendance along with those from younger classes. All told 182 players participated on 22 teams. Due to injuries/other circumstances, 34 invited players did not attend. As might be expected on teams put together on the spot, chemistry was better on some than others but to the credit of all, that did improve over the three days of the event. For the most part, there were separate time slots for the two events and teams from the club event did not compete against the teams from the individual pathway.
The information just below was provided by a NCAA representative. As of the end of Sunday, July 28 (day 2), 503 coaches had been granted a credential for the event:
Total coaches – 503
Division I – 480 (225 schools)
Division II – 10 (8 schools)
Division III – 3 (2 schools)
JUCO – 10 (7 schools)
Expenses picked up by the NCAA!
I will be the first to admit that over the years I have been critical of various NCAA actions (and also inactions). However, one must give credit where credit is due. The event organization (particularly considering of the multitude of moving parts) was very well done with games running very close to scheduled times. Expenses for travel and lodging of players, club coaches plus one parent/guardian per player were at NCAA expense and this included several dozen foreign players! Also, there was no charge for information (coaching packet) to college coaches or media (19 credentialed according to NCAA representative). Several sources have indicated that the event cost the NCAA millions of dollars (very believable) to put on and again it was very well staged.
The site
For an event of this size, the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center was a great choice. Advantages included a nearby major airport (Charlotte International) about 30-minute drive away, small city with ample, reasonably priced motels, venue with ample parking, food court nearby and finally a beautiful eight-court (including an arena court) facility (just the right size). It will be hard to match all the plusses elsewhere!
Let them play!
Officiating at the event saw less called (contact on shooters, walks) than one might expect. It was pretty consistent game to game noting calls did tend to be tighter near the end of games.
Suggestions to enhance the event:
1. Post scoresheets in a media room or online (just a photo of the scoresheet would do). In no uncertain terms, I was told by multiple NCAA reps that there was to be no looking at or photos taken of official scoresheetsduring or after games. Do note that these prohibited actions are common practice post-game (usually very few ask to take a photo) during club basketball. I was told the purpose of the event was to give evaluation opportunities to NCAA schools. When I mentioned this “no looking at or photos of at scoresheets” to multiple college coaches, they struggled to believe such was an event policy!
2. All the club games (and perhaps the individual pathway games) were recorded for later use by college coaches. Why not stream (no announcers) the club games (so many were very good) on YouTube (where the two club finals were livestreamed with announcers) or on some other site? This would be a classy addition (at relatively minor expense when the NCAA is already spending millions of dollars on the event). I was told many relatives/high school coaches would have liked to see the games but could not make the trip to Rock Hill.
3. Advertise the USA Basketball Youth Development app more prominently to all at the event. Information on the club event was fully laid out there but not so easily available as normal on Exposure app (You have to go in via a back-door route from another site.). Information on the Individual Pathway was not there but was available via a handout sheet.
4. While on the subject of the USA Basketball Youth Development app [and on the Exposure app which is harder to reach regarding this event], finish posting all the scores at tournament’s end. As of several days after the event’s finish, the result of the 5th place game in the 10th Grade Gold Bracket, 3rd place game in the 10thGrade Silver Bracket, 5rd place game in the 9th Grade Gold Bracket and 3rd place game in the 9th Grade Silver Bracket were not posted. This sadly happens when staff scramble to leave the venue at end of events with the attitude that nobody cares (and bracket are never completed online). I would like to think that the NCAA and USA Basketball would not leave such loose ends that happen all too often elsewhere in club ball.
5. Put the 9th grade semi’s at 9am slot not 10:15am as that gives the players more time to rest before the 2pm final. Also, this gives media and coaches more opportunity to see the semi’s of both divisions, which had all four semi’s games in the 10:15am time slot.
6. Several club coaches told me the event used the three-point international distance not the high school line which was used all summer. They thought this was unfair to their players. I understand college coaches would want to see how the players will shoot from the college/international distance, but to rate them when just five days before they were using the high school line is not enough time for them to properly prepare. Thus, my suggestion would be stay with high school line for this event (floor had multiple lines which was confusing enough!).
Does this event really need to be held?
I asked a number of prominent club basketball coaches their thoughts on the club event. They were fine with the concept but felt the timing of this event was much too close to the evaluation period that ended on July 22 (when this event began play July 27). A common response was that their players were too fatigued to be at their best. If this event is to continue, the NCAA needs to look at putting more time between this and the previous evaluation period (perhaps having the first eval period right at the beginning of July, second right in the middle and this event conclude close to the end of July).
One other suggestion was to move at least the USA Basketball Club Championships portion of the event to September. That would give players time to come rested and teams time to fully re-integrate the players who moved down from playing up classes in the summer. The downside would be making college coaches evaluate in September (something they did away with several years ago) plus the NCAA Individual Pathway event is best suited for July where the rising seniors (here 2025 class) were given more opportunity to be recruited. Come fall, many D1 programs have pushed passed recruiting seniors. Splitting the events would also increase costs be it not that much given the multi-million dollar input for this event.
College coaches questioned pretty much agreed the competition was very good, but a significant portion noted that they had seen many of these same players earlier in July. One telling stat is that only 225 out of 351 NCAA DI (64.1%) schools chose to attend with next to no attendance (see above chart) from lower divisions. As great as it was seeing the best from the various circuits (NIKE, Under Armour, Adidas to name three) play each other, perhaps these millions of dollars could be better spent elsewhere?
Taking a brief look at each Division’s Gold Bracket championship game in the order they occurred on the Arena Court of the Rock Hill Sports and Events Center. Note all stats unofficial as media were not allowed access to official scoresheets as discussed above. Both finals games below are available for viewing on the USA Basketball YouTube Channel.
FBC United - 9th Grade Division Champions
9th Grade Gold Bracket Final: FBC United [GUAA] 62-43 Missouri Phenoms [NIKE EYBL]
This contest pitted the winner of Under Armour’s GUAA 2026 Division vs the winner of NIKE’s 15 EYBL Division. The FBC squad had essentially been playing up at GUAA. NIKE’s Phenom’s were a bit younger as to class starting two 2028’s to none for FBC. Tied at 15 after one quarter, the game was broken open in the second stanza with FBC up 36-25 at half aided by seven Phenom turnovers. Strong team defense and hot shooting put the game out of reach (52-33) by the end of quarter three. Star of the game was FBC’s Giaunni Rogers (5-8, guard, 2027, Saint Francis High School, Georgia) with 22 points followed by balanced scoring with no other FBC player reaching double digits. The Phenoms were led with 12 points each by Ryenn Gordon (5-7, guard, 2027, Centralia R-6 High School, Missouri) and Maddie Vickery (6-1, forward, 2027, Washburn Rural High School, Kansas).
Giaunni Rogers (5-8, guard, 2027, Saint Francis High School, Georgia)
10th Grade Gold Bracket Final: Philly RISE [NIKE EYBL] 54-53 Wisconsin Lakers [GUAA]
To set the stage, the core of Philly RISE had done very well in the 17 EYBL playing during July without its two top players who were in Mexico at the FIBA U17 Championship. The Lakers team was primarily its squad from the 2026 GUAA Division (did well there) with the principal addition being club star Natalie Kussow (5-11, guard, 2026, Arrowhead High School, Wisconsin) who dropped down from the club’s 2025 team). On the first day of the event in Rock Hill, the Lakers, led by Kussow, crushed Philly RISE 86-62 (a game where Philly was the favorite due to starting more high-major D1 talent).
Jordan Palmer of Philly Rise. (Photo Credit: Rare Footage Sports)
While attending media may have expected RISE talent to control of matters in this re-match, such was not the case as the score was close start to finish. The Lakers were up 16-13 after one quarter, tied at 30 at half and Lakers up again 38-37 after three quarters. With the Lakers up by one (53-52), Jordyn Palmer (6-2, forward, 2027, Westtown School, Pennsylvania) was fouled (in looking at re-play several times this call could have gone either way as any contact was minimal) attempting a shot in the key with 0.6 seconds left in the game. Palmer calmly converted both tries to win the game and finish with a game-high 24 points. Natalie Kussow led the Lakers with 17 points in a game neither team deserved to lose.