By JACOB POLACHECK
The IndiWorld Championships are back this year with a new 12-team field. After a highly successful inaugural tournament last year, the event has added two new total teams including We Will Win, from Nova Scotia, Canada.
“Our intent was to create an exclusive event for the top teams, eventually in the world, but we knew we had to start from something,” said Brian Hershman, the founder of IndiHoops. “What we want to do is create the best experience possible for some of these club teams as they play one last time before high school. Their middle school and elementary club years are over. This is the end of an era for most of them.”
With 12-teams, the field was kept small enough to have highly competitive games, while also expanding from 2016. “One of the things that we shoot for, is that we want every game to be good,” said Hershman. “I know many tournaments, when you get to 50, 60, 100 teams, you’re just gonna blow out teams. We want every game to matter, every possession to matter.”
The event will start off with a game at 10:20am on Thursday at Point Loma Nazarene College between the San Diego Slayers and We Will Win. This matchup will feature the team closest to the event and the team furthest.
“The San Diego Slayers are a program started by Keenan Allen,the Los Angeles Chargers Wide Receiver, about a year ago,” said Hershman. “He will be at that game. They were one of the best teams in San Diego, consistently all year. They won a qualifier that we had, so this year they’re one of our host teams. We’re really proud to have them as a host team. They’ll be going on 92.5FM earlier in the day.”
Hershman also spoke about their opponents, We Will Win, as he said, “We Will Win is from Halifax, Nova Scotia which is 3,685 miles away from the event. They are one of the best teams in Canada and come highly recommended. They are our first international team, so it’s going to be really cool. There’s a lot of buzz about Canadian basketball. They just won the U-19’s as you know. This is the chance for them to get some more momentum there.”
The winner of that matchup will face #6 ranked Seattle Rotary. Hershman spoke about them saying, “Seattle Rotary is one of the best teams the country all year round. They have every piece that you would want,” he continued. “They’ve been playing together since ninth grade. They were also at the first IndiWorld. Most notably, they won a Battle in Seattle event that we put on in July and went to the east coast and won out there. It goes without saying that they’re one of the best teams in the country. They are led by Shane Nowell. He is a player to watch as the younger brother of # 23 Jaylen Nowell, who is a top recruit going to Washington. He’s an absolute stud.”
The next matchup will feature the Up and Under against the #23 ATX Knights. The ATX Knights, from Austin, Texas have one of the best players in the country with #16 ranked KJ Adams. “They just made an Elite 8 run in Big Foot Hoops Las Vegas Live so they have some good momentum,” said Hershman.
Their opponents, Up and Under, from Fresno, California played in the IndiWorld West Regional. Hershman described them as “a very well disciplined and well coached team”.
The winner of that matchup will go onto face Florida Future. Hershman broke down what he likes about Florida Future:
“They are a team that was recommended from the prestigious NYBL. The coach’s son, Arthur Cedeno, a point guard is a player to watch. They’re a very talented team across the board.”
A big first round matchup game will pit Seattle Select against Thunderstruck. Hershman broke down both teams:
“Seattle Select is one of the top teams in the Pacific Northwest. They don’t really have a huge standout. They play well as a team. They’re gonna run a lot of good read and react offense. You’re going to see a very disciplined and well coached team that could very well be a sleeper in this tournament that not many people are aware of.”
“Thunderstruck was the winning team last year in the inaugural tournament. They won IndiWorld1. They will be loaded as well. Walter Clayton, a 6-2 point guard, Ernest Roth, a 6-5 forward, and Tysean Daniels, a 6-6 small forward are some definite players to look out for.”
Winner of Seattle Select & Thunderstruck will play at 6:30 PM against Vegas Elite, the highest ranked team in the event at #9 who features #17 PG Zaon Collins and Will McClendon who make up one of the best backcourts in the nation for the class of 2021.
The winner of that matchup will face the New York Dragons, the final team in the field. Hershman broke down what he’s seen from the New York Dragons:
“They won their East Regional at the IndiHoops Spring Fest. Another team with one of the best backcourts in the country with Everton Browne at point guard. #20 ranked Marcus Dyes completes the dynamic backcourt A definite threat to win MVP of the event is the highest ranked player in the event - #10 Jai Smith. He is a 6-7 long forward who can play above the rim and handle the ball as well. He’s one of their emotional leaders on the floor. They just won a 15U division playing up in Las Vegas Fab 48.
There will also be a dunk contest, judged by Oregon commit Miles Norris, USC commit Taeshon Cherry, and potentially more surprise guest. The dunk contest will be held at 3 pm on Saturday.
4:20PM is the 3rd Place Game – Live Streamed
The Championship will follow at 6pm Saturday – Live Streamed
EVENT WEBSITE – IndiHoops.com/IWC
Follow - @INDIHOOPS on Social Media.
To Buy Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
To Donate: https://www.gofundme.com/
