The young players were all kitted out in Nike apparel and shoes and the camp rules and regulations were explained to them. They then got straight to work as they were put through intense scrimmages to evaluate them for team selections.

EVENT PARTNERS

The players, aged between 16-18 years old, play on professional club teams in their native countries and are all excited to be at the camp. “I hope to make friends and be a better basketball player,” said Brynjar Bjornsson, a 17 year old from Iceland. “Also to have a lot of fun. I’m having a lot of fun already so I’m hoping to have even more when the NBA players get here.”

During the camp the European players will get the opportunity to be taught by NBA players, themselves from Europe. Utah Jazz’s Andrei Kirilenko from Russia and Dallas Maverick’s Dirk Nowitzki from Germany will lead the group as camp coaches. Other NBA players include Utah Jazz’s Gordan Giricek ( Croatia), Charlotte Bobcats Primoz Brezec ( Slovenia) and Milwaukee Bucks Zaza Pachulia (Georgia).

In addition to the players, NBA team personnel Tony Barone (Memphis Grizzlies), Greg Ballard (Atlanta Hawks), Don Newman (San Antonio Spurs), Mike Wells (Los Angeles Lakers) and Paul Westhead (Orlando Magic) will help coach the camp.

The camp is sponsored by Nike, McDonald’s, Molten and Spalding and is co-organized by the NBA and FIBA.

The camp is being staged at La Ghirada in Treviso, Italy which is owned and operated by United Colors of Benetton. This is the fourth time the event has been hosted here and campers were practicing their basketball skills in the professional surroundings of the Benetton Treviso basketball team’s facilities.

Whilst the campers took a well earned rest after their first day at the camp, the coaches were still working hard deciding which players they wanted to see on which teams. You all know about the NBA Draft well this is the Basketball without Borders Europe Draft! In total the players will be divided into six teams (Bobcats, Bucks, Grizzlies, Hawks, Jazz and Mavericks) and it will be up to everyone to make sure their team wins.

“I hope I learn a lot and I hope that scouts can see me play and that it will be a good thing for the future,” said Yannick Driesen, a 16 year old from Belgium. “I have never met an NBA player before and I’m looking forward to meeting them especially Dirk Nowitzki who is my idol.”

“I think it will be a good experience because you’re playing against good players, every day for four days and I’ll hopefully get better because we’re playing against such high level players,” said Daniel Mark Clark a 16 year old from England. “It should be a good experience meeting NBA players and learning things from them.”