Blair Basketball In the News

ABCD Camp to invite more foreign players

07/08/2002 – Updated 11:58 PM ET
By Christopher Lawlor, USA TODAY

TEANECK, N.J. – Sonny Vaccaro admits he erred. Well, sort of.

With recent NBA drafts dominated by international players, Vaccaro, director of grass-roots basketball for Adidas, is leaning toward inviting more foreigners to the athletic shoe giant’s annual ABCD Camp in the future.

“Maybe up to 20 (players) by next year,” Vaccaro said. “I’ll find players. I’ll go to the agents. Honestly, they are the best scouts in the world. That’s where it’s going to be. In Europe, 14- and 15-year-old kids are playing for club teams. That’s similar to our AAU. There’s no colleges or high schools; kids are just playing ball.”

Vaccaro, who oversees this week’s high school showcase ABCD Camp on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson, said 14 foreign players were selected in last month’s NBA draft, and just one high-schooler, Amare Stoudemire of Orlando, was picked.

Vaccaro, 62, says the solution is simple: “The best thing Americans do is play basketball for 12 months of the year; so just let them play. With so many rules and regulations, they only circumvent what is good about the game. Someday, they’ll get their wish and more international players will get drafted (by NBA teams) than Americans.”

Globe trotters: The No. 1 pick in last month’s NBA draft was Yao Ming, a 7-5 center from China. The fascination with the Far East continues at the Adidas Camp with 6-11 Yi Jianlian from ShenZhen, China. The 16-year-old Jianlian, who does not speak English, is accompanied by an interpreter, a California-based Chinese-American journalist and a China Adidas rep.

Also at Adidas: 6-11 Malick Badiana of Thies, Senegal, and Canadian Olumuyiwa Famutimi, a 6-6 forward who attends high school in Flint, Mich.

Teammates: Luol Deng and Charlie Villanueva, both of Blair Academy (Blairstown, N.J.), are attending rival camps. Deng, a 6-11 center who averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds, is in Indianapolis at the Nike Camp, and the 6-10 Villanueva of Brooklyn, N.Y., is at ABCD.

“When we came back from the camps last year, we compared notes and will do it again this year,” Deng said.

Villanueva might bypass college for the NBA draft.

LeBron watch: LeBron James of Akron, Ohio (St. Vincent-St. Mary), USA TODAY’s national player of the year, will not play at Adidas but will make an appearance Wednesday.

James, a 6-7 forward, broke his left wrist during an AAU game in Chicago in May, forcing him to miss the summer circuit. James is a surefire NBA lottery pick in 2003.

“I miss watching him play, just like everybody else,” said Sebastian Telfair of Brooklyn, N.Y., the nation’s top junior.

State by state: California, with 30 players, is the state leader at the Adidas camp. Leon Powe, a 6-8, 235-pound forward from Oakland Tech and considered one of the nation’s prominent seniors, is not in action after suffering a knee injury during an AAU game in April.

New York (23 players) and New Jersey (17) are second and third.

Contributing: Wire reports

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