Pelican's Diallo, Heat's Ellington, Knicks' Holiday, Trail Blaizers' Leonard Bucks Maker, Nuggets' Mudiay to Coach Top International Prospects at Third Basketball without Borders Global Camp

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) today announced the top 67 boys and girls from 32 countries and territories who will travel to New Orleans for the third annual Basketball without Borders (BWB) Global Camp.  The camp will be held Feb. 17-19 at the New Orleans Pelicans’ practice facility as part of NBA All-Star 2017, and Nike will serve as the official partner.

NBA and FIBA players and coaches, including Cheick Diallo (New Orleans Pelicans; Mali), Wayne Ellington (Miami Heat; U.S.), Justin Holiday (New York Knicks; U.S.), Meyers Leonard (Portland Trail Blazers; U.S.), Thon Maker (Milwaukee Bucks; South Sudan; BWB Americas 2015/BWB Global 2016) and Emmanuel Mudiay (Denver Nuggets; Democratic Republic of the Congo), will coach the top high school age campers from Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe.  Diallo, Ellington, Holiday, Leonard, Maker and Mudiay will be joined by former NBA player Adonal Foyle (St. Vincent and the Grenadines), former WNBA players Rushia Brown (U.S.), Ebony Hoffman (U.S.) and Ruth Riley (U.S.), as well as select players from the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge.

The NBA and FIBA hosted the inaugural BWB Global Camp at NBA All-Star 2015 in New York City, beginning an annual All-Star tradition.  BWB, the NBA and FIBA’s global basketball development and community outreach program, has reached 2,690 participants from 133 countries and territories since 2001, with 43 campers drafted into the NBA.  Twenty-three former BWB campers were on opening-night rosters for the 2016-17 season, including Dragan Bender (Phoenix Suns; Croatia; BWB Global 2015), Maker and Jamal Murray (Denver Nuggets; Canada; BWB Global 2015).

“The Basketball without Borders Global Camp is a great opportunity for the top male and female prospects from around the world to compete against one another, learn directly from NBA and FIBA players, legends and coaches, and experience the excitement of NBA All-Star,” said NBA Vice President, International Basketball Operations & Head of Elite Basketball, Brooks Meek.  “The Basketball without Borders program was founded on the belief that basketball brings young players from different backgrounds together and transcends cultural boundaries.”

“We look forward to the Basketball without Borders Global Camp taking place in New Orleans and tipping off another exciting year of the BWB program,” said FIBA National Federations & Sport Director Zoran Radovic.  “The camp, which brings together youth players from across the globe, has already gone from strength to strength in a very short period of time and provides campers with the experience of a lifetime, both on and off the court.”

Current NBA assistant coaches Joe Connelly (Denver Nuggets), Jay Hernandez (Orlando Magic) and Fred Vinson (New Orleans Pelicans), along with Brooklyn Nets scout and NBA D-League Assistant GM Matt Riccardi, will also serve as BWB Global coaches.  Patrick Hunt (President of the World Association of Basketball Coaches; Australia), Gersson Rosas (Houston Rockets; Colombia), Marin Sedlacek (Philadelphia 76ers; Serbia) and Masai Ujiri (Toronto Raptors; Nigeria) will serve as camp directors.  Former NBA trainer Wally Blase (U.S.) will serve as the camp’s athletic trainer.  

Players and coaches will lead the campers through a variety of activities on and off the court, including movement efficiency, positional skill development, shooting and skills competitions, 5-on-5 games, and daily life skills seminars focusing on health, leadership and communication.  One boy and one girl will be named BWB Global Camp MVPs at the conclusion of the three-day camp. 

The campers will attend the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, State Farm NBA All-StarSaturday Night, and the 66^th NBA All-Star Game at Smoothie King Center.

Nike, a BWB global partner since 2002, will outfit the campers and coaches with Nike apparel and footwear.  Fusionetics, a performance healthcare system designed to help athletes move, perform and recover, all while mitigating their risk of injury and optimizing performance, will provide movement efficiency testing and specific performance data on speed, agility and strength to the campers.  Each camper will receive the Fusionetics app and get a digital profile with personalized injury prevention and performance programs.

                                                                      

The first-ever Basketball without Borders camp took place in Europe in July 2001.  Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Toni Kukoc (Croatia), together with former teammates from the Yugoslav national team, reunited to work with 50 children from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia and Montenegro at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy.  The NBA and FIBA have staged 46 BWB camps in 27 cities across 23 countries on six continents.  More than 215 current and former NBA, WNBA and FIBA players have joined more than 170 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams to support BWB across the world.

The following is a complete list of players participating in the third annual BWB Global Camp:

GIRLS ROSTER:

Last Name	First Name	Country
Dongua	Geovana	Angola
Armato	Claudia	Australia
Epperson	Britney	Australia
D'Angelo	Chelsea	Australia
Gould	Cassidy	Australia
Lorde	Tower	Barbados
Brcaninovic	Melisa	Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ugwu	Obalunanma	Brazil
Pickering	Mahkayla	British Virgin Islands
Fahie	Shaliqua	British Virgin Islands
Makolo	Roxane	Canada
Brown	Hailey	Canada
Pellington	Shaina	Canada
Tang	Zigi	China
Wang	Leyi	China
Kuier	Awak	Finland
Lathinen	Lotta-Maj	Finland
Bejedi	Sara	Finland
Prabhakara	Priyanka	India
Gulbe	Aleksa	Latvia
Coulibaly	Aissatou	Mali
Payan	Sofia	Mexico
Pinto	Chanaya	Mozambique
Sarr	Khadidiatou Bigue	Senegal
Hermosa	Nerea	Spain
Sahnan	Monique	United Kingdom

BOYS ROSTER:

Last Name	First Name	Country
De Sousa	Silvio	Angola
Buiamba	Glofate	Angola
Caffaro	Francisco	Argentina
Lopez	Lautaro Tomás	Argentina
Froling	Samson	Australia
Epperson	Jacob	Australia
Dalton	Callum	Australia
Tchamwa Tchatchoua	Jonathan	Cameroon
Barrett	R.J.	Canada
Shittu	Simi	Canada
Dort	Luguentz	Canada
Kirkwood	Noah	Canada
Akot	Emmanuel	Canada
Brazdeikis	Ignas	Canada
Nembhard	Andrew	Canada
Zhang	Kevin	China
Wang	Junjie	China
Sun	Haofeng	China
Mwamba	Patrick	Democratic Republic of the Congo
Raafat	Tarek	Egypt
Waxlax	Ricky	Finland
Mamukelashvili	Sandro	Georgia
Bonga	Isaac	Germany
Herkenhoff	Philipp	Germany
Verma	Aashay	India
Doumbia	Souleymane	Ivory Coast
Velicka	Arnas	Lithuania
Coulibaly	Abdoul Karim	Mali
Keita	Blaise	Mali
Sissoko	Moulaye Mamadou	Mali
Samuel	Taane	New Zealand
Clinton	Quinn	New Zealand
Bassey	Charles	Nigeria
Sjolund	Kristian	Norway
Faye	Cheikh	Senegal
Marjanovic	Andrija	Serbia