College Basketball Academy for women to debut this summer; revamped men’s academy set to return for first time since 2019
After approval of its creation by the Division I Council in October, the College Basketball Academy for women will take place July 28-31 at the Memphis Sports and Events Center in Memphis, Tenn. In addition, the College Basketball Academy for men, which has been restructured since its debut in 2019 at four sites across the country, is set to return July 24-27 at the same Memphis venue.
Organized with input from the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, the Academies are designed to give prospective student-athletes a sample of the college basketball experience. Participants and chaperones will attend life skills courses about NCAA eligibility and compliance; the recruiting process; name, image and likeness opportunities; agents; the transfer portal; mental and physical health and the pathway to professional basketball opportunities.
"The goal of these academies is to ensure that prospective student-athletes are informed of the value and overall experience collegiate basketball provides," said Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball. "Educating and engaging high school players, as well as their parents and guardians, about college basketball opportunities is a key goal. We believe the academies' life skills courses will benefit student-athletes as they continue their basketball and academic journeys, while the event also provides coaches with a structured evaluation opportunity."
Prospective student-athletes can participate in the NCAA College Basketball Academies by qualifying via one of three pathways.
The National Pathway includes USA Basketball's under 17 3x3 junior national team trials and training camp, as well as Canada Basketball's NextGen national team training camp. USA Basketball will select prospective men's and women's student-athletes to participate in its training camp, while Canada Basketball will choose the prospective student-athletes for its portion of the training camp at the NCAA College Basketball Academies.
The Team Pathway features the U.S. Open Basketball Championships at the NCAA College Basketball Academy,which is USA Basketball's premier 5x5 youth national championship. Twenty-four rising 11th grade and 24 rising 10th grade travel teams will earn the right to participate in the U.S. Open Basketball Championships via USA Basketball-approved qualifying events that will be announced later this month.
Finally, in the Individual Pathway, NCAA Division I basketball coaches, along with a College Basketball Academies advisory board, will select up to 400 players from the classes of 2024, 2025 and 2026 for both the men's and women's academies. Players who receive an academy invitation via this pathway will be placed on teams and compete in games, as well.
Academy participants in all three pathways will benefit from athletic assessment, games and life skills sessions. To be considered for the academies, prospective student-athletes must be registered with the NCAA Eligibility Center. Once registered, men's and women's high school prospects must self-nominate for the Individual Pathway of the academies before May 8 for the men's academy, and prior to May 15 for the women's academy. Prospective student-athletes can self-nominate via the College Basketball Academy website or NCAA Eligibility Center.
For more information, visit thecbbacademy.com.