The NBA and Basketball Australia launched the NBA Global Academy in Canberra at the BA Centre of Excellence on Friday, according to Roy Ward of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The center, formerly known as the Australian Institute of Sport basketball program, "helped develop many of the nation's elite talents, including all eight current Australian NBA players." With the NBA "looking to take a leading hand in developing players across the world via six new academies," execs looked to the center and its location at the AIS and put their centerpiece, the global academy, on campus. The global academy will start with 11 male players and one female player but it is understood the NBA is "keen to improve the gender balance" (SMH, 6/23). In Canberra, Eamonn Tiernan reported NBA VP Brook Meeks said that the program "had been four years in the making." Meeks said, "We're trying to find the best basketball players from around the world to bring them to Australia to make them NBA players." Part of the agreement with the NBA "ensures the academy gives five of its scholarships to Australian players, who will be picked from the Centre of Excellence" (CANBERRA TIMES, 6/23).
