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DeMarre Carroll to Participate in Weeks 2 and 3 of 29th Annual Junior Jazz Road Trip

SALT LAKE CITY (June 13, 2012) – The Utah Jazz announced today that forward DeMarre Carroll will take part in Weeks 2 and 3 of this summer’s annual Junior Jazz road trip, a barnstorming tour which conducts approximately 42 basketball clinics for 2,000 youth covering more than 4,000 miles across four states for three weeks each summer. Weeks 2 and 3 featuring Carroll commence on Monday, June 17, and will include the Jazz forward running 27 basketball clinics in 27 different Utah and Nevada cities and towns over a 12-day span.

“We are grateful to the many Jazz fans throughout the Intermountain Region and excited to show our appreciation by visiting these communities for Junior Jazz basketball clinics,” said Jazz President Randy Rigby. “Our players genuinely enjoy the opportunity to interact with youth, helping them learn about teamwork, sportsmanship and healthy lifestyles through basketball.”

The 2013 edition of the Junior Jazz road trip marks the 29th straight year the Jazz has conducted the events, which feature Jazz players running hour-long basketball clinics for kids in participating Junior Jazz towns across Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada and Wyoming. Following each clinic, the Jazz player will sign autographs and pose for pictures.

Week 1 of the Junior Jazz road trip featured Jazz forward and 2012 NBA Slam Dunk champion Jeremy Evans running 16 clinics in Utah, Idaho and Wyoming from June 3-8. A complete schedule of Weeks 2 and 3 of the Junior Jazz tour featuring Carroll is found below.

Former Jazz greats Karl Malone and John Stockton are among the numerous Jazz players to have participated in the Junior Jazz trips over the years. Last summer, Carroll, Jeremy Evans and Derrick Favors participated in the youth clinic tour. The Junior Jazz program is the largest and longest-running youth basketball league in the NBA and the Jazz is the only team in the NBA to conduct a summer tour.

Junior Jazz Clinics Schedule

About Junior Jazz

Junior Jazz, the longest-running youth basketball league in the NBA, is celebrating its 30th year shaping the face of local amateur sports. Beginning with only 7,133 participants in its initial year, the popular program has grown to the largest in the NBA with 55,000 players and an additional 13,000 volunteers who take part each year. Kindergartners through 12th-graders are eligible to participate, and individual programs are managed through recreation centers in Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada and Wyoming. Junior Jazz programs promote sportsmanship, fundamental athletic development and having fun.

Each Jazz player participates in one-to-two Junior Jazz clinics per year, visiting both local and outlying districts, where they speak to youth and conduct a total of 15 basketball clinics along the Wasatch Front each season.

In 2006, Junior Jazz launched a good sportsmanship initiative that recognizes and rewards kids, coaches and parents for being good sports. This year’s sportsmanship winners attended a party on March 26, 2013, where Jazz guard Kevin Murphy and center Enes Kanter presented awards to individual sportsmanship winners.

Notable alumni of the Junior Jazz leagues include current NFL players Brady Poppinga (Dallas) and Paul Kruger (Cleveland), ex-Brigham Young University and NBA players Shawn Bradley and Travis Hansen, former college football stars and NFL wide receivers Kevin Curtis (Utah State) and Kevin Dyson (Utah), 2008 American Idol finalist David Archuleta and football little league sensation Sam Gordon.

The continued success of the Junior Jazz program would not be possible without the support from the program’s sponsors; McDonald’s, Denny’s, Merit Medical, Savage Companies, AT&T and Scheels.

About DeMarre Carroll

Originally selected by Memphis in the first-round (27th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft, DeMarre Carroll (6-8, 212, Missouri) was signed by the Jazz on February 9, 2012 and appeared in 66 games (12 starts) in the 2012-13 season for Utah, averaging 6.0 points and 2.8 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game. Carroll has appeared in 173 career games (22 starts) over four seasons with Memphis, Houston, Denver and Utah and owns career averages of 4.2 points and 2.3 rebounds in 13.3 minutes.

A native of Birmingham, Ala., Carroll played two seasons at Vanderbilt University before transferring to Missouri, where he averaged 16.6 points and 7.2 rebounds as a senior and helped the Tigers to the 2009 Elite Eight. Carroll earned his bachelor’s degree from Missouri in human and organizational development, and is a few credit hours shy of his master’s degree in human development and family studies.