Sports America, Inc: We Do Everything But Play the Game

Issue #104
by Wayne Ellis, Sports America

The Man Behind the Curtain
Selecting the Players for the NBA Player’s Association Top 100 Camp

On June 19th, players will arrive at the University of Virginia for the country’s top boys’ prep basketball camp: the National Basketball Players Association’s Top 100.

And one of the reasons why this camp is so prestigious, along with its huge NBA player , coach and recruiter presence is the manner in which prep stars are invited to play.

The NBPA Top 100 Camp has turned to one man to head up this decision making process. His name is Bob Gibbons.

Once you become familiar with the man and his method, you should have a better understanding of where you need to focus your attentions (or your son’s or player’s attentions) to make sure Bob notices you for next year’s camp.

The Most Respected Name in Prep Hoop Recruiting

Last week, I had an opportunity to talk with Bob Gibbons, Director of Player Selections and the Camp Organizer for the NBPA Top 100 Camp.

Bob is in a league by himself when it comes to qualifications for selecting prep players for the NBPA Top 100 camp. His career highlights include:

Having his All Star Scouting Service voted the most accurate, reliable and best source of information by Division I coaches in surveys by The Sporting News, Sports Magazine, ESPN.com and USA Today
Having been rated the Number One High School Talent Scout in America by Sports Illustrated
Having been featured on CBS’ 60 Minutes, ABC Nightline and in Hoop Dreams Documentary
Having selected Top 100 and high school All American teams for most national newspapers
Having evaluated and rated high school basketball prospects for 30+ years.
(For a full bio, as well as information on Bob’s industry-leading publication: Bob Gibbons All Star Report, see the “Post Game Recap” at the end of this Winner's Edge.)

But if you asked Bob what his biggest career highlight has been, he’d probably tell you, that he has helped hundreds of young men to gain recognition, and receive athletic scholarships to attend colleges.
In addition to Bob’s unmatched prep talent analyzing credentials, his selection criteria helps separate the NBPA Top 100 Camp from all others

Why Selecting the Best 100 Players May Not Be Good Enough

First of all, because the NBPA Top 100 Camp isn’t associated with a major shoe company, Bob was truly free to invite the 100 kids that best fit into his criteria.
Second instead of simply selecting the 100 players listed as the consensus prep all-stars – the manner used by nearly 100% of the other “elite” invitation-only camps, Bob broke the kids down into the five traditional positions the prospects could play at the next level:

Point Guard
Shooting Guard
Small Forward
Power Forward
Center

And then he selects the 20 players he thinks are the best at each position. With those 100 players selected, Bob the divides them into 10, 10-player teams.
Every team has two players for each of the traditional five positions. That way, when the teams practice among themselves, they have a set of players at each position to challenge each other continuously.
Also, by making sure that each team has two players from the five traditional positions, nobody is forced to suddenly jump into a role that they’re uncomfortable with.

With the teams selected from day one, and balanced according to each of the five positions, the kids enter into their four-day competition rich camp knowing they’ll be tested every morning (in fundamental drills, broken down by position), every afternoon (in team-oriented drills, where they’ll face off against the position counterpart), and in games, when they’ll test themselves against the nation’s best.

At the end of the four day bootcamp, if you will, players will have a better gauge of where they stand in regard to the nation’s elite players – both on an individual level, and in a team setting.

Make the Simplest Choice and the Best

For the countries top prep players, the National Basketball Players Associations Top 100 Camp stands out for many reasons. Bob Gibbon’s participation in the selection process of the players, and in making up the 10 camp teams, is certainly one of the reasons why the camp is consistently at the top of the summer camp list. one of the most important reasons why

If you’d like to get more information about the NBPA Top 100 Camp, or the selection process, go to the camp’s website at: http://www.nbpa.com/top_100.php

Post Game Stats RECAP

The Winner’s Edge Goes to Camp: watch this space next week for a report from the NBPA Top 100 Camp, inclusive of interviews, analysis and court-side reporting.
Bob Gibbons Extended Bio: Bob Gibbons career started more than 30 years ago when he began with “legendary” prep writer Taylor Bell of the Chicago Sun Times. Bob’s a member of the Basketball Writers of America, and sits on the advisory board of Who’s Who in Athletics in American High Schools.
In addition to his NBPA Top 100 selection duties, Bob is a long-time member of The McDonald’s High School All American Selection Committee, a consultant for Parade Magazine’s High School Boys Basketball All American Team, and a voting member of the Naismith Basketball Awards Committee.

He also has a long track record with some of the country’s top prep basketball camps: having selected players for the Nike All American Camp; Sonny Vaccarro’s ABCD Camp, and the Roundball Classic All Star Game.

Bob has also appeared on many radio and television programs on high school athletics, including ABC Nightline, and CBS’s 60 Minutes with Leslie Stahl. He also appeared in the highly acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams.

For more information on Bob Gibbons’ industry leading prep basketball recruiting report, visit Bob’s website at: www.bobgibbons.net.
During the week of June 25 – June 29, The Winner’s Edge will be discussing opportunities for the U.S.’s elite girl athletes. We’ll be talking about a number of girl’s events in soccer, field hockey, lacrosse and volleyball with some of the country’s foremost experts on girl’s sports.

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