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Senegal will host this year's Basketball Without Borders (BWB) Africa from July 28 to July 31, organisers announced on Tuesday.
The competition, which is in its 17th edition, will be held at the NBA Academy Africa in Saly and at the Dakar Arena in the Senegalese capital.
The organisers, National Basketball Association (NBA), International Basketball Federation (Fiba) and Senegalese Basketball Federation said the competition will bring together top male and female players aged 17 and below from the African continent.
The top junior players will battle it out against those who are younger and they will also learn from current and former NBA and Fiba players, coaches and legends.
“Bringing the 17th edition of the BWA Africa camp to Senegal speaks about our commitment to expanding our footprint across the continent,” said NBA Africa Managing Director and Basketball Africa League President Amadou Gallo Fall in a statement.
The event will also include NBA Cares and junior outreach efforts in partnership with local community organisations.
Previously, BWB Africa has been held in South Africa (2003-2009; 2011-2015; 2017-2018), Senegal (2010) and Angola (2016), with more than 1000 players from more than 30 African countries participating in the NBA and Fiba’s global basketball development and community outreach program.
It has seen 10 former BWB Africa campers drafted into the NBA who include the 2019 NBA champion Pascal Siakam (Toronto Raptors; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2012) and two-time NBA All-Star Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers; Cameroon; BWB Africa 2011).
Others are Luc Mbah a Moute (formerly of the LA Clippers; Cameroon, BWB Africa 2003) and Gorgui Dieng (Minnesota Timberwolves; Senegal; BWB Africa 2009).
Fiba Africa Executive Director Alphones Bile said their target is to have some of the players who will play in the competition feature in the recently established Basketball Africa League.
Nike, a global partner of BWB since 2002, will cloth the campers and coaches with Nike apparel and footwear.
NBA and Fiba have staged 59 BWB camps in 38 cities in 30 countries on six continents, while BWB has hosted more than 3,500 participants from 129 countries and territories.
According to the organisers, more than 290 current and former NBA and WNBA players have joined more than 240 NBA team personnel from all 30 NBA teams, with 68 former BWB campers drafted into the NBA or signed as free agents.
In February, the NBA and Fiba announced their plan to launch the Basketball Africa League - a new professional league featuring 12 clubs from across Africa scheduled to begin next year.
