2009 Nike Global Challenge
Team USA East gets by Canada for the crown.
This past weekend, some of the best high school basketball players from around the world took Hillsboro, Oregon, by storm as they took part in the 3rd annual Nike Global Challenge. The tournament, held at Liberty High School, included 3 regional American teams (East, Midwest and West-South) as well as International teams from Brazil, Canada, Euroleague’s junior tournament
champion FMP-Serbia, the SEEDs Academy from Senegal, and an all-star team from Nike’s All-Asia Camp. The American players were chosen based on their performances at Nike’s summer elite camps such as the King City Classic, LeBron James Skills Academy, and positional skills academies held with NBA stars Vince Carter, Amar’e Stoudemire, Deron Williams and Paul Pierce. Although only in its third year in existence, the tourney’s alumni have already include Demar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors, Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Greg Monroe of Georgetown, Kemba Walker of UConn, Sarmado Samuels of Louisville, John Wall and Demarcus Cousins of Kentucky and Xavier Henry of Kansas, among others.
This year’s American teams included Harrison Barnes, Josh Selby, Florida-bound Austin Rivers and North Carolina-bound Kendall Marshall, among many of the nation’s best. The Canadian team, which made it to the championship game, was also stacked with talent, featuring Texas-commits Tristan Thompson and Myck Kabongo, as well as Marquette-bound Junior Cadougan.
When it was all set and done, team USA East was able to squeeze by Canada and come away with 105-104 victory to win the 2009 Nike Global Challenge. Team USA East was led by Kyrie Erving’s 26 points. Will Barton added 20 while Selby finished with 18 points. For Canada, Thompson had a monster game, finishing with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Forward Mangisto Arop contributed 18 points while Kabongo chipped in 15, followed by Cadougan’s 13.
OregonLive did a nice job covering the event and has blog recaps, video highlights and complete player stats for every game of the three-day event. Check it out.
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On a (somewhat) related note, Canadian University Simon Fraser is going to be competing in NCAA D2 next year… weird.
Looking for a franchise player? Look no further than Harrison Barnes. During the first round, I scribbled “Jordanesque”in my program. A day later he lit it up for 46 & 14, with 4 steals.
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