All Eyes on Vegas
The eyes of the grassroots basketball world are focused squarely on Las Vegas this week for the final days of the 2016 July evaluation period.
With four different high powered events taking place in Las Vegas, at the same time as the USA Basketball team prepares for next month's olympic games on the campus of UNLV, the city is full of NBA players, college coaches and high school prospects alike.
ESPN television coverage will highlight the action in three of the next four days beginning with the semi-finals and finals of "The 8" on Thursday and Friday followed by the championship from the Adidas Summer Championships on Sunday.
Many of New England's most notable programs are in Las Vegas this week as well. The Mass Rivals and New England Playaz are both in the field of the Adidas Summer Championships, with the Rivals looking to continue their undefeated summer to date following championships of the Adidas Gauntlet Finale and Peach State Classic. The Playaz, coming off their championship at the Big Apple Summer showcase, are looking to build for the future with five prospects in the class of 2018 playing up with the u17 squad.
Expressions Elite is across town playing in the Fab 48, an event that combines some of the best programs from both the Nike EYBL and Under Armour Association.
Other New England based programs competing in Las Vegas this week include Evo Elite, Mass Elite, New Hampshire Spartans Elite and more.
New England also has a sizable contingent in Orlando this week for the AAU Super Showcase with BABC, Middlesex Magic, Metro Boston, D.C. Blue Devils and more competing at Disney's Wide World of Sports.