NYCHoops.net recently did a story on the iHoops Initiative which is described as a collaboration between the NCAA and the NBA, targeting pre-collegiate basketball.
As reported, a meeting took place on July 21st in Las Vegas between iHoops and Grassroots Basketball of America (GBOA) . While the meeting went as scheduled, more questions than answers still remain.
On Tuesday, NYCHoops.net spoke with iHoops CEO, Kevin Weiberg. Weiberg says that the purpose of iHoops is, "to establish a structure and develop programs to improve the quality of youth basketball in America in order to enhance the athletic, educational and social experience of the participants." iHoops' target market, according to Weiberg, is travel and club team basketball but said they may go into younger recreational league basketball. According to the iHoops website, Nike and adidas will serve as founding partners and Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski is on the board of directors.
iHoops plans for iHoops.com, their website, to become the premier youth basketball online community and network in the U.S. and Canada. It will look to facilitate communication and be an essential resource for players, coaches, officials, parents, and youth teams at all levels. This social network will be managed and maintained by Active.com. iHoops.com will also look to provide skill-training curriculum, certification programs for coaches and officials, and the opportunity to register for events, tournaments, and programs. In addition, the site will feature instructional videos, player profiles and highlights from tournaments.
While many applaud the goals of the iHoops initiative, others take a more cynical approach saying that iHoops is merely looking to takeover grassroots and AAU basketball. They believe iHoops is simply looking to profit off a lucrative sport with 23 million American boys and girls playing the game but at the expense of AAU and Grassroot organizations and businesses. Weiberg reiterated that iHoops primary goal was to enhance the structure of pre-collegiate basketball and promote standards but was empathetic saying, "I can understand why people may not trust us. They will have to wait and see"
Gary Charles, the director of the New York Panthers, a grassroots basketball team and President of GBOA says he went into the meeting with iHoops with an open mind. His organization has a similar mission statement which made him initially leery, however Charles says he was optimistic in that iHoops was at least looking to have a meeting.
After the meeting, Charles said that it went well. "We got to share our views and agreed that at some point we're going to have to trust each other." Charles also said that GBOA and iHoops would be "working together."
Another participant in the meeting was GBOA board member Jim Hart, director of the Albany City Rocks basketball team and tournament director for the Rumble in the Bronx. The Rumble in the Bronx is a high profile annual event that is held at Fordham University in the Bronx, NY during the non-live period. Hart walked away from the meeting with a completely different conclusion. "They were not clear on the direction," says Hart via text, adding, "The NBA and NCAA invested 50 million dollars in this."
One of the burning questions that remain regarding iHoops is, what is their real goal? Hart believes their goal is transparent saying, "They are a FOR-PROFIT company and they have to be profitable after three years. Doesn't sound like they are there to clean things up. It's hard to be about the kids and for-profit at the same time."
Weiberg doesn't deny that iHoops is a for-profit company. He said that the corporate name of the company is Youth Basketball Services Corp, a Delaware corporation. When asked why iHoops isn't a not-for-profit corporation, Weiberg responded, "The NBA is a for-profit company and the NCAA is non-profit. Our legal department decided that this was the best structure for the organization. I was told that profits would probably be plowed back into the organization."
After the meeting between iHoops and GBOA, Charles told NYCHoops.net, "They (iHoops) said they are not going into the business of giving tournaments." Weiberg was also present at the meeting but told NYCHoops.net, "We cannot preclude the possibility of giving tournaments in the future. We just don't know." Weiberg added, "We might however suggest that the AAU and others adopt certain standards. That remains to be seen."
While iHoops is advertised as a collaboration between the NBA and the NCAA, the iHoops.com website is actually owned by company called NBA Media Ventures LLC (NBAMV). NBAMV's chairman is the NBA commissioner David Stern. When asked who NBAMV was, Weiberg oddly said he did not know but qualified the statement saying, "I joined the organization shortly after the press announcement in June" alluding to the fact that iHoops was conceived at an earlier date.
Recently, college coaches have been complaining with regard to live-period tournament directors charging exorbitant prices for incomplete or deficient tournament packets. On July 27th, The New York Times reported that iHoops was the "Watchdog Group" that would look at fees paid by College Basketball Coaches. Weiberg, however, says that he doesn't see iHoops as a watchdog group. "That (coaches grievances) is an NCAA matter, not an iHoops matter," said Weinberg, who also mentioned, "In time, we may make suggestions."
Weiberg says that the concept that became iHoops came to fruition primarily due to, "the need for there to be a more concrete structure" in youth basketball.
iHoops has not yet determined exactly how they will remain a viable initiative but what is clear, is that iHoops is a for-profit organization. As such, they will do what is necessary to make a profit as would any for-profit corporation. Whether iHoops is ultimately progressive, destructive or simply more of the same may simply depend on who and where you are in the food chain.
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