Team James, coached by Nate James, Jason Williams and Ricky Price, proved to be the best squad all week at K Academy. After finishing with a regular-season best record of 4-1, Nate’s squad marched through Sunday’s championship, single-elimination tournament. Team James cut the nets down after defeating Team Wojo 40-23 in the finals. Rick Schnall took home MVP honors and Nate improved to 22-10 all-time as a coach at the K Academy.
Alaa Abdelnaby (NBA TV Analyst)
Mark Alarie (Principal – CrossHill Financial)
Gene Banks (Greensboro Smith High School Head Coach)
Kenny Blakeney (Harvard Basketball Assistant Coach)
Robert Brickey (Director of Elite Sports Training in NC)
Chris Carrawell (Duke Basketball Grad Assistant)
Marty Clark (Coach/Director of Next Level Basketball in CO)
Chris Collins (Duke Basketball Associate Head Coach)
Kenny Dennard (Managing Partner at DRG&E)
Sean Dockery (Pro Basketball Player – Most recently in France)
Mike Dunleavy (Indiana Pacers forward)
Chip Engelland (San Antonio Spurs Assistant Coach)
Mike Gminski (College Hoops TV Analyst)
David Henderson (Cleveland Cavaliers Scout)
Nate James (Duke Basketball Assistant Coach)
Christian Laettner (Real Estate Entrepreneur)
Reggie Love (Personal Assistant for Barack Obama)
Roshown McLeod (Head Basketball Coach at Woodward Academy)
Ricky Price (Sports Agent)
Shavlik Randolph (Philadelphia 76ers forward)
JJ Redick (Orlando Magic guard)
Quin Snyder (Head Coach of NBDL’s Austin Toros)
Vince Taylor (Minnesota Basketball Assistant Coach)
Jason Williams (24 Fitness Director and TV Analyst)
Shelden Williams (Sacramento Kings forward)
Steve Wojciechowski (Duke Basketball Associate Head Coach)
*Basking the environment at K Academy
*It gets intense at basketball fantasy camp
Thrilling Finishes
Saturday boasted three of the best all-time games in K Academy history and they occurred back to back to back…
Team Gminski upsets Team Laettner… Fred Perpall was the hero in this one. The Georgia resident scored a game-high 19 points including one of two free throws with 5.6 seconds left to give Team Gminski the 36-35 lead. Then, after a Team Laettner timeout, Perpall came out of nowhere to block an open layup attempt at the buzzer to secure the win.
Team James defeats Team Collins in OT… Team James’ Tom Dunstan forced overtime by sinking a 16-foot jumper as time expired in regulation. In the extra session, with Team Collins up by two, Team James’ Rob Forcelli buried a three-pointer with 11.8 seconds left and his squad held off a last second drive to take the victory by the score of 37-36.
Team King rallies past Team Wojo… In a game many K Academy veterans now consider the most exciting of all-time, Team King rallied from a 14-5 halftime deficit to beat Team Wojo. Trailing by three at the end of regulation, Team King pushed the ball the length of the floor in the final seconds, finding Tom McConnell open in the corner where he buried a game-tying three-pointer to force OT. In the extra session, with Team King up by two, Team Wojo’s Ted Virtue drew a foul with 5.4 seconds on the clock. After sinking the first, Team King called timeout but Virtue calmly drilled the second attempt as well to tie the game at 36. In the ensuing inbounds play, Team King heaved the ball towards center court after struggling to get the ball in play. Team King’s Rich Grodin saved the pass from going out of bounds by blinding heaving the ball over his head with both hands before falling into the scorer’s table. Miraculously, the ball again found the hands of McConnell, who sank a jumper from the corner as time expired. McConnell’s only two field-goal attempts of the game will long be remembered in K Academy lore and Grodin’s one assist in the game overshadowed his impressive 22-point, 12-rebound outing.
