Steve Battista, Under Armour’s Senior Vice President of Brand, told the Daily News: “This generation is our generation.” These combines, said Barto, are the future of basketball, and will replace exposure camps that were once in vogue, but have become increasingly perceived as money makers that only service a handful of players. “Kids and parents want more bang for their buck”, said Barto, “and with a more scientific approach to development, every player at every skill level can be tested and receive the evaluation and improvement plan necessary to make significant gains more rapidly.” “We will have data comparison, protocols, and online information and demonstrations available for continued assessment, analysis and development, giving players focus areas and cues to use to improve in specific areas.” “Our vision is to be the first and best at scientifically formatting the evaluation process for basketball skill training. We are developing the science and testing procedures in a basketball specific combine format, rather than just putting a stopwatch on guys in the three cone drill. “We will be able to tangibly and scientifically break down the difference between a Jordan Hill and a B.J. Mullens. Right now, there is a gaping hole in this area of evaluation.” IMG Basketball Academy Director Mike Moreau said: “Our goal is to continue to blaze the trail and lead through our experience and expertise in the way basketball players are evaluated in a combine setting.” With the IMG Basketball Academy firmly established, and with Under Armour as a new partner, the foundation for changing forever the way basketball players are evaluated and developed has now been laid. This translates not only into young players developing for the next level, but may also have ramifications for the NBA level. Under Armour already sponsors the NFL Combine and sources said the company is eying the NBA Combine next. “The last two players that were evaluated and used some of the parts of the program played at major DI programs [Corey Brewer of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Alonzo Gee, who is in the D-League]. They said they have never seen anything close to it,” Moreau said. On the grassroots front, Barto implies other bigger projects may be around the corner. “If the new collective bargaining agreement limits players options out of high school, then a real option for the high level players would be to spend their junior and/or senior year here at IMG, and then a year or two in Europe like Brandon,” he said. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.
Steve Battista, Under Armour’s Senior Vice President of Brand, told the Daily News: “This generation is our generation.” These combines, said Barto, are the future of basketball, and will replace exposure camps that were once in vogue, but have become increasingly perceived as money makers that only service a handful of players. “Kids and parents want more bang for their buck”, said Barto, “and with a more scientific approach to development, every player at every skill level can be tested and receive the evaluation and improvement plan necessary to make significant gains more rapidly.” “We will have data comparison, protocols, and online information and demonstrations available for continued assessment, analysis and development, giving players focus areas and cues to use to improve in specific areas.” “Our vision is to be the first and best at scientifically formatting the evaluation process for basketball skill training. We are developing the science and testing procedures in a basketball specific combine format, rather than just putting a stopwatch on guys in the three cone drill. “We will be able to tangibly and scientifically break down the difference between a Jordan Hill and a B.J. Mullens. Right now, there is a gaping hole in this area of evaluation.” IMG Basketball Academy Director Mike Moreau said: “Our goal is to continue to blaze the trail and lead through our experience and expertise in the way basketball players are evaluated in a combine setting.” With the IMG Basketball Academy firmly established, and with Under Armour as a new partner, the foundation for changing forever the way basketball players are evaluated and developed has now been laid. This translates not only into young players developing for the next level, but may also have ramifications for the NBA level. Under Armour already sponsors the NFL Combine and sources said the company is eying the NBA Combine next. “The last two players that were evaluated and used some of the parts of the program played at major DI programs [Corey Brewer of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Alonzo Gee, who is in the D-League]. They said they have never seen anything close to it,” Moreau said. On the grassroots front, Barto implies other bigger projects may be around the corner. “If the new collective bargaining agreement limits players options out of high school, then a real option for the high level players would be to spend their junior and/or senior year here at IMG, and then a year or two in Europe like Brandon,” he said. Follow Adam Zagoria on Twitter.