MTB Puts Emphasis On High School Basketball Despite AAU Roots

Feb. 26, 2010 - PRLog -- Georgetown Prep will be hosting the 1st Annual Born To Bump Summer League in conjunction with the More Than Basketball Management Group.

More Than Basketball was established in September 2009 by Arize Ifejika a 25 year old Florida A&M grad whose notoriety and recognition came from his time spent as Youth Event Director at Hoop Magic in Chantilly and Tournament Director at the Hoop Group. At 25 he has a 3 year event resume that includes 12 NBA players, 220 Division I players and thousands of scholarship athletes.  

Georgetown Prep is one of few schools in the Greater Baltimore-Washington area who is as respected for their basketball  tradition and history as they are their academic standards and achievements. They have not only graduated several major division I scholarship athletes (not to mention former Georgetown Hoya and current little hoyas coach Dwayne Bryant) and  developed an NBA lottery pick but they have also developed and graduated several working class professionals who have gotten there by way of the IVY League and other top notch 4 year institutions.

So when Ifejika began his search for a school to partner up with for a summer league these were all attributes that he felt embodied everything he was looking for. Academic diversity, a first class program and a beautiful, air conditioned state of the art facility doesn't hurt.

Why a summer league? A question that Ifejika has been asked many times. 'A lot of people thought that I left Hoop Magic to run AAU events elsewhere which wasn't true," said Ifejika. "I'm actually trying to get away from AAU because I feel the market is over-saturated and people are doing it for the wrong reasons," he concluded. Ifejika, who also manages one of the hottest go-go bands in the area (TOB) and invested in an upstart fashion line (Swagger and Substance Clothing) established his company to not only focus more attention on those other endeavors but he wanted to use himself to inspire young people to not put all of their efforts in one craft or niche but instead to make themselves into well rounded individuals sharpening their skills and abilities in many areas.

Something that's is often seen in AAU basketball and gives it some of the negative publicity similar to what college basketball is experiencing. So often now young players are changing schools 3 or 4 times, reclassifying for athletic purposes and missing school and/or school functions for AAU events. All this for the pursuit of the oh so illusive division I scholarship and opportunity to play for pay.

"I watched a lot of these kids grow up in my events, going from 13 year old over hyped sensations pumped up by irresponsible rankings made by "recruiting experts" to 16 year old high school dropouts and/or underachievers who either never developed socially because of bi-carious living parents or never made academics a priority because they always got passes off their abilities on the court," said Ifejika. "It was amazing to me how many kids don't play basketball after high school and have nothing to fall back on and those who do don't have a clue want they want to do with their lives after basketball or if basketball was taken away from them for whatever reason," he added.

Ifejika realized that with the reputation he gained from his high-level events it was his role as a young leader to show by example, just exactly what his message preaches and with the help of Dwayne Bryant, Georgetown Prep and the participating schools he intends to do so.

"Schools like Prep, Cesar Chavez and Riverdale Baptist, where I have hosted MTB events thus far, respect my professionalism and appreciate what I'm trying to do for these young people. I see a lot of these young guys in my functions whether playing in a game, partying with the band or attending to support either and they have watched me build my career the last 3 years since I graduated college and it gives them the confidence to do more and be more because I'm not to much older than them and they remember me when I was a 21/22 year old fresh out of college," says Ifejika who also speaks two other languages.

The league will be in the main gym  for boys varsity & junior varsity teams. The league will also begin to shift summer agendas back to the high schools, something that hasn't always been the case in years past. With promises of national exposure and better recruiting opportunities AAU programs have had the upper hand in most instances but with the summer league being NCAA Certified during the month of July (meaning Division I coaches are allowed to attend for evaluation) there will not be such a need to travel thus allowing coaches more time with their teams during the summer.

"I just can't watch these guys short themselves in life because they got caught up in hype and rankings, thousands make it but millions don't, at that point what are their options? Seeing what we do at More Than Basketball and what Georgetown Prep has done for years are inspiration and examples of possibilities that can still result in the lifestyle associated with those dreams," said Ifejika.

For more information on the league log onto www.morethanbasketballmg.net under leagues.

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Management company whose foundation is operating elite grassroots basketball leagues, tournaments and showcases but uses that audience to market and promote various opportunities and services.