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Central Basketball Association, North of the Border Basketball League pair up for All-Star game in Canada

07/23/2014, 3:30pm CDT
By CBA Staff

Nearly two months after completing their first official season as the Central Basketball Association (CBA), the league officially announced today their partnership with the North of the Border Basketball League (NBBL) to showcase the talent of both leagues in an all-star game in Canada next month.

Whereas the CBA has been established in the United States as a means for aiding recent NCAA and NAIA college basketball stars to obtain professional basketball opportunities across the globe, the NBBL is a Canadian league with a similar platform and model as the CBA, but catering instead to Canadian players only, particularly those who come from the CIS and CCAA collegiate systems.

On the verge of completing just their second season, the NBBL, which plays in the summer months as opposed to the spring-based CBA, has fourteen teams in their elite division and hosts the top players in the Southern Ontario region. Some of their recognizable elite Canadian athletes include: Brady Heslip, a former star guard for Baylor University and member of the Canadian national team, who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas this month; Tyrone Watson (New Mexico State University), Dwayne Harvey (Alabama State University), and Tramar Sutherland (University of Arkansas-Little Rock).

The NBBL, which is based in Hamilton, Ontario, a city approximately 45 minutes southwest of Toronto, has had its games nationally televised this season on Canada-based Cable 14 Sports and Rogers TV. Furthermore, the NBBL continues to establish credibility in Canada as providing opportunities for its players to be scouted and potentially signed by Canada’s own professional basketball league, the National Basketball League of Canada (NBL-Canada), as four out of the nine teams in that league are also based out of Ontario.    

The CBA and the NBBL will pair up on Friday, August 22 at 8:00 p.m. in Hamilton, Ontario to provide the platform for the top players in each league to compete against one another, including a dunk-contest, a three-point shootout, as well as the game itself. International scouts, local officials and dignitaries, as well as media representatives are expected to attend this nationally-broadcasted “USA vs. Canada” basketball event.

The CBA official roster, which is set to be announced early next week, will mostly feature the top players from the three teams that failed to qualify for the 2014 CBA Post-Season: Bowling Green Hornets, Memphis Soul Kings, and River City Panthers, in an effort to provide their respective players further experience and exposure on the national and international scale, which they may have missed out on during the media attention of the 2014 CBA Playoffs.

The long-term goal for both the CBA and the NBBL is to become the most popular, credible, and successful feeder-system league in their respective home countries. The CBA, where nearly 70 players in the league last season played at either NCAA Division-I or NAIA Division-I college institutions, and over 25 players have international playing experience, has helped placed seven players overseas in less than a year, including aiding a player last month to sign a contract in Slovakia. The NBBL has been working to do the same, helping its players obtain opportunities to play in NBL-Canada, the Canadian National Team, as well as the NBA. Furthermore, the NBBL traveled to China last winter to participate in a series of all-star games with the Chinese Basketball Association, in an effort to help provide their players with international exposure and placement.

In a new era, where the last two NBA Drafts have commenced with Canadian players being selected first overall (Anthony Bennett in 2013, Andrew Wiggins in 2014), it is becoming apparent that players across the border are finally being recognized for their underappreciated talent. The CBA, and its respective United States-based players, will have an opportunity to put themselves and their Canadian counterparts to the test late next month, as the two leagues look to start the first of an annual tradition of competitive matches, commencing this year in Canada

 

NBBL Website: http://www.northborderbasketball.com

NBBL Twitter: @NorthBorderBall

NBBL Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/NorthOfTheBorderBasketball

 

CBA Websitehttp://www.playcba.com

CBA Twitter: @playCBA

CBA Facebookhttp://www.facebook.com/CentralBasketballAssociation

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