32 PLAYERS PICKED FOR ACG-NBA JUMP FINAL

                   

–The National Final Selectionto be held at Jaypee Greens –

–Top Player from the Program will attend the NBA Development League
National Tryout in the United States –

MUMBAI, Feb. 09, 2015 –ACG-NBA Jump, India’s first national basketball talent search program will enter its final phase where 32 players selected for the national camp will vie for that one spot to attend the NBA D-League National Tryout in the United States.

The national final, from February 22-25, 2016, marks the culmination of the 5-month program that took place across six regions including Delhi, Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata.  The 4-day camp to be held at the Jaypee Greens, Noida, will have 32 players selected from across the six regional camps. While the camp will serve as a selection process, its main activity will be to impart intensive coaching to this select group of players thus enriching the talent pool of the country.

Satnam Singh, the first Indian-born player to be drafted into the NBA, had tipped off the program at the Thyagraj Sports Complex in Delhi on Oct. 26.  As part of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and ACG Worldwide Group’s (ACG) commitment to grow basketball in India, the first-of-its-kind program provided basketball players from around the country the opportunity to develop their skills under the guidance of NBA-certified coaches.

“ACG-NBA Jump has given basketball playing youth in India a pathway to professional ranks.  We are committed to grow the program in the years to come,” said NBA India Managing Director Yannick Colaco.  “While one out of the 32 players will get the big opportunity of a national tryout in the NBA D-League, the entire pool will be a part of Elite Talent Club and NBA will monitor their progress on a regular basis.”

“Promotion of sports and youth development has always been a part of ACG’s CSR vision and this program is an important milestone towards realization of this vision,” said ACG Director Karan Singh.  “The final pool of players represents the very goal of the program that was to identify and hone the untapped talent pool of basketball in India. We strongly believe that our partnership with NBA to tap this potential and create a solid platform for the aspirants has found the right beginning. We are as excited as the 32 selected players and can’t wait to see the final chosen one take off to the United States for the D-League National Tryout. ”

The top player from the national elite training camp will be selected to attend the NBA D-League National Tryout in the United States for the opportunity to earn a spot on an NBA D-League roster.  The selected player will continue to undergo training with NBA certified coaches in India up until the tryout in June 2016.  

Sony SIX, the official broadcaster of the program, will create a feature around ACG-NBA Jump, following the program through its various stages and tracking the winner up until his NBA D-league tryout.  

The NBA D-League is the NBA’s official minor league, serving to develop players, coaches, and front office executives.  Entering its 15^th season, the NBA D-League features 19 teams in the U.S. and Canada, each of which is singly-affiliated with an NBA parent club.  An all-time high 38% of players on 2014-15 NBA end-of-season rosters had NBA D-League experience.

Visit www.acgnbajump.com to learn more about the program.  Fans can follow the NBA on Facebook (facebook.com/NBAIndia) and on Twitter (@NBAIndia) and download the NBA App for the latest news, updates, scores, stats, schedules, videos and more.

THE LIST OF PLAYERS WHO MADE THE CUT

Name	Position
Ludhiana
Dildar Ravinder Singh	Point Guard
Jaipal Singh Maan	Forward
Anmol Gurdip Singh	Forward
Manjinder Singh	Point Guard
Anmoldeep Singh	Forward
Rajveer Singh	Point Guard
Delhi
Darshan	Point Guard
Jotish Joy	Point Guard
Himanshu Sharma	Forward
PalPreet Singh Brar	Center
Arshpreet Singh	Forward
Sunil	Forward
Tushar Vijay	Point Guard/Forward
Vishal Kumar Gupta	Center
Akimjeet S.Sohal	Point Guard
Rachit Prem Singh	Shooting Guard
Hyderabad
Ambati Prudhveshwar Reddy	Point guard
Dinesh Kumar Mishra	Forward
Eswar Ambala	Point guard
P.V. Nikhil Sai Kumar	Forward
Mumbai
Loveneet Singh	Point Guard
Samson Sandhu	Point Guard
Gaurav Chandel	Forward
Sanket Rajendra Kalbhor	Forward
Pranav Wagle	Forward
Chennai
Jeevanantham Pandi	Centre
Arjun Rajagopal	Forward
A Surya	Forward
S Vignesh	Forward
Vijay Pranav	Point Guard
Kolkata
Allen Saju Mattam	Point Guard
Sagar Dinesh Joshi	Forward
Manpreet Singh Grewal	Forward

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About the NBA:

The NBA is a global sports and media business built around three professional sports leagues: the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League.  The league has established a major international presence with games and programming in 215 countries and territories in 49 languages, and NBA merchandise for sale in more than 125,000 stores in 100 countries on 6 continents.  NBA rosters at the start of the 2015-16 season featured 100 international players from 37 countries and territories.  NBA Digital’s assets include NBA.com and NBA Mobile, which achieved record traffic during the 2014-15 season, as well as NBA TV.  The NBA has created one of the largest social media communities in the world, with more than 915 million likes and followers globally across all league, team, and player platforms.  Through NBA Cares, the league addresses important social issues by working with internationally recognized youth-serving organizations that support education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

About ACG Worldwide

ACG Cares Foundation is a community service platform for the ACG Worldwide Group. The ACG Worldwide Group is a leading provider of pharmaceutical machinery and products to pharmaceutical companies around the world. ACG is a global leader in hard two piece capsules shells. The group comprises of 14 companies, including subsidiaries in China, USA, Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand and Europe. ACG has 15 manufacturing facilities and more than 4000 associates working around the world. Since its inception, ACG has endeavored to fulfill its responsibility towards society and CSR has always been a part of organizational philosophy. ACG has been working with communities long before CSR became an area of active interest amongst majority of stakeholders.  . ACG’s CSR programme is driven by the basic premise of ‘Giving Back’ to the society and it is channelized through ‘ACG Cares Foundation’, which has actively pursued interventions in the thematic areas of Health, Education, Promotion of Sports and Environment.

About the NBA Development League:

The NBA Development League is the NBA’s official minor league, preparing players, coaches, officials, trainers, and front-office staff for the NBA while acting as the league’s research and development laboratory.  Featuring 19 teams with direct affiliations with NBA franchises for the 2015-16 season, the league offers elite professional basketball at an affordable price in a fun, family-friendly atmosphere.  An all-time high 38 percent of all NBA players at the end of the 2014-15 season boasted NBA D-League experience.  In fostering the league’s connection to the community, its teams, players and staff promote health and wellness, support local needs and interests, and assist in educational development through NBA D-League Cares programs.  Fans can watch all NBA D-League games on nbadleague.com.