- Simba French
- 14 hrs ago
- 0
Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Mario Bowleg sat courtside at the 2nd Annual Hoopfest in Paradise high school basketball showcase and was impressed with the level of competition and exposure that the Bahamian high school players got while playing in it.
There were eight boys teams and four girls teams that played two games each this past Friday and Saturday at Kendal G.L. Isaacs National Gymnasiu
Bowleg said that the event showed the local players the level that they need to play at in order to get to the next level.
“This Hoopfest in Paradise tournament brings an exposure to the high school basketball players, especially the senior boys. They’re able to now measure themselves with the best of the best in the United States,” said Bowleg. “As you can see, with the competition being [played] here, we now – even though we have the private schools all-stars now playing the public schools all-stars – know what they have to do to get to the next level in order to get to college; and that’s what we want to continue doing – encourage events such as this to be able to put our senior boys and even the juniors in a position to measure themselves up to the standard they need to get to in order to obtain a scholarship,” he added.
The minister said that his government is looking for ways to bring more sporting events to The Bahamas.
“Speaking with the organizers, we’re going to have a meeting to see how we could expand this. I was told that there are about 10 boys and girls teams that are interested in coming next year, and so we want to make this an interesting one. The idea is to have a conversation with the Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation so that we can collaborate with the organizers and see how we can grow this event and grow this brand that also includes senior girls basketball, so we can also give our young ladies an opportunity to be exposed and see which level they need to get to in order to obtain scholarships,” said Bowleg.
One of the tournament stars was Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe who hails from Bimini, The Bahamas. The 18-year-old came home with his Long Island Lutheran team and performed at a high level, averaging 27.5 points in the two games he played. One of the things that stood out for Bowleg about Edgecombe was his basketball IQ, he said. With the attention that Bahamas Basketball has gotten, Bowleg said he could see Edgecombe playing on the senior men’s national team in short order.
“Looking at his IQ (Intelligence Quotient), I said to one or two persons sitting next to me that, ‘I’ve coached senior men’s basketball, his IQ is higher than many’. I think with his IQ and the talents of the Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield, DeAndre Ayton and Eric Gordon and those who we intend to add, I wouldn’t call the names now, but there will be some surprises, and I think he definitely can find himself a spot on the team,” Bowleg stated.
Edgecombe is ranked at number five on ESPN’s Top 100 list of high school players. He scored 30 points in an 81-68 win against Mater Dei High School on Friday night, and then he came back and scored 25 points in an 83-50 blowout victory for Long Island Lutheran over Riviera Prep on Saturday.
The Bahamas’ senior men’s national basketball team has qualified for the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) World Olympic Qualifiers, set for July 2-7, 2024, and if successful there, The Bahamas will qualify for the basketball competition at the 2024 Olympics, which will be held from July 27 to August 11, 2024, in Paris, France.
The Bahamas would have to win its six-team group at the FIBA World Olympic Qualifiers to move on to the Olympics. They were drawn into a sub-group with Finland and Poland, and just the top two finishers in that group will move on to the semifinals. The semifinals and final are set for the Pavelló Municipal Font de Sant Lluís in Valencia, Spain, July 6 and 7.
If successful, it would be the first time that The Bahamas has qualified for the Olympics in a team sport competition.