E-Paper
Pune boy Pritish Kokate among those selected for NBA’s talent hunt program
Pritish is among 50 other candidates named for basketball training via a talent-hunt programme.
Pune boy Pritish Jitesh Kokate has been selected to be a part of the ACG-NBA Jump National Finals, a talent-hunt programme that was launched about a year ago in India which has 50 players on the roster.
The players that have been selected, according to The Asian Age, are the second batch to get scholarships as well as training at the NBA Academy in the country. The 16-year-old Kokate had earlier also been a part of the U-15 international camp organised by the Qatar Basketball Federation in 2016.
Born in Pimpri-Chinchwad, Kokate has been playing basketball since he was nine-years old. Standing at a little over six feet, the 66-kg player has played for four separate teams.
Kokate has been a member of the Kamalyan Bajaj School as well as the Sharp Shooters Club since the year 2012. He played for the Maharashtra State team in the seasons 2013-14 as well as 2015-16, captaining the team in the second stint.
READ | LeBron James becomes third player to score 2,000 points in 10 straight NBA seasons
A two-day camp was held recently in which Los Angeles Lakers’ Brook Lopez helped the 50 selected candidates to learn techniques and personal tips from the player himself.
Lopez also helped in selecting the final 50 candidates who were chosen through regional clinics as well as an open submission method, in which players submitted their video clippings showing their skills in basketball, apart from athletic abilities as well as attitude.
These 50 candidates will now get 100 per cent scholarships along with training at The NBA Academy which is based at the Jaypee Greens Integrated Sports Complex in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Twenty four candidates were chosen for the programme in the year 2017.
