Albany Legends Issue Casting Call For 2012 Roster
December 20, 2011 - International Basketball League (IBL)
Albany Legends News Release
ALBANY, NY "" In a matter of two seasons, the Albany Legends have managed to win a league championship, as well as send several of their athletes onto lucrative international basketball careers. Not all that bad for a start-up franchise in a second-tier professional sports market. Along the way, the organization has garnered a loyal following, citing their mission to deliver quality, affordable, community-focused basketball entertainment to the Capital District.
Now, a new season awaits and a new set of players are being called upon to recover a league championship previously earned in 2010. The weekend of January 14 and 15, the team will be hosting the 2012 Albany Legends Combine, an event that demonstrates their commitment to U.S. players pursuing professional basketball careers, according to Albany Legends General Manager Nicholas Dean. "The combine is designed to assess and test players with a chance to get them signed on with the team or one of the several sports agents who have established connections with our organization," stated the recently promoted Dean.
With an accomplished resume as a player and a coach, Dean was amply qualified to help manage the Albany Legends cast of stars. In high school, Dean scored 1,259 points at Schenectady Christian Academy (now MeKeel Christian Academy) on the way to having his #25 jersey retired. Following a celebrated high school career, Dean attended Nyack College ('96), then a NCCAA (National Christian College Athletic Association) member school, and wracked up 1,453 points, an NCCAA All-American nomination as a sophomore, as well as landing in the record books as the school's 13th all-time leading scorer. Dean also competed on the professional level, as a practice squad member of the Empire State Stallions of the USBL ('96) and as an invitee to international tryouts held by Henry Bibby, father of NBA star Mike Bibby, in San Diego, California. As a member of the Armed Forces, Dean also had a chance to face-off against professional players and teams in his tour throughout Germany.
As the door to his playing days closed, the door to his coaching career soon opened. Dean got his first crack at collegiate coaching as an assistant with Nyack College in 1996. Choosing to return home, Dean quickly picked up where he left off, joining the basketball program at SUNY Schenectady County, first as an assistant in 1998, then quickly taking on the head coaching role in 1999, where he remained until 2002. Since then, Dean has remained active in instructing youth-level basketball, running clinics through his own organization, All-American Basketball. The 2011 Legends season marked his return to the bench as an assistant under first year head coach Ben Smith.
However, it was behind the scenes as an administrator that Dean decided he could make the greatest impact and help take the organization to another level. "Coaching is in my blood, but there is a lot more to a professional-level franchise then just putting the players on the floor," admits Dean. "I welcome the challenge of managing the club and am extremely excited to apply myself to a separate, yet invaluable, aspect of producing a professional basketball team".
One key element that Dean intends to hone in on is the growing trend of U.S. players migrating overseas to find professional playing opportunities in countries throughout the world. Locally, there are a few dozen premier players that have made a handsome living off of international basketball, most notably Willie Deane III and James Thomas of Schenectady, who are playing this year in the Ukraine and Italy, respectively.
"Options to play professional basketball in the U.S. are scarce, so we feel there is an opportunity to capture a very specific, yet sizeable demographic of talented professional-caliber athletes that want to make basketball their livelihood. We can assist a player by providing extensive information on how to market themselves to teams, work with agents and give insight into what to expect when making the leap from amateur to professional basketball," Dean said.
Last season alone was a banner year for Legends athletes, several of whom landed jobs in Italy (Lloyd Johnson, Prince Jackson & Scott McRae), Germany (E.J Gallup), Thailand (DeAndre Thomas) and Denmark (Will Harris). Their successes, both with the Legends and breaking into international basketball, gives hope that more players will see the value in being seen by and networking with team staff. "It is important for players to know that if we assess an individual who has not made our team, but we feel they can play professionally, we will work to make connections for that player," commented Dean about the reluctance of athletes to attend team workouts.
Professional contacts have proven to be the most useful way of finding employment with a foreign club. The more contacts you have access to, the more eyes you have on game tape, the more interest you are likely to have in your services. These premises alone are partly why Dean reached out to another local basketball resource: the Capital District Basketball Association.
The Capital District Basketball Association (CDBA) is a grassroots, not-for-profit organization that brought the region's greatest collection of collegiate and professional level talent together for the inaugural season of the CDBA Summer League in 2011. Founded by Dave Van Wormer, a member of the 2001 NYSPHSAA State Champion Schenectady Patriots which featured Jason McKrieth (Rice) and Rashaun Freeman (UMass, Israel), called upon his considerable network of players to assemble the league of local basketball royalty.
The NCAA sanctioned event provided something the area was lacking: a competitive outlet for the dozens of local elite players home from college and overseas, including current standouts from Siena (Od Anosike, Kyle Downey) and SUNY Albany (Mike Black, Blake Metcalf).
In fact, it was the involvement of several of the Legends players that attracted Dean to the summer league. After attending multiple game nights, both Dean and Van Wormer began talks of collaborating on several projects, recognizing the potential of joining together to work towards shared goals.
"The partnership is just another step towards providing value for our players, fans and sponsors, as now we're combining the resources that made both of our operations individually successful," stated Van Wormer. "We are doing what most small organizations do best: utilize every asset available to us. It is rewarding to see the relationship between two small, local businesses develop and witness the gradual fulfillment of our common interests".
For now, the CDBA is stepping into facilitate the Legends tryout process, lending critical marketing support, giving insight into how to effectively brand the club in the national basketball marketplace and tapping into the sizeable network that made the summer league such a special series of events. Likewise, the Legends have signed on to help conduct the CDBA Raise Your Level Youth Clinic, a basketball training program that will feature several CDBA and Legends personnel committed to working with young athletes in the Rensselaer City School District, who have provided the host site for the 2012 CDBA Summer League.
"I cannot stress how tremendously significant the union of our organizations is for local professional basketball," said Van Wormer. "The two leading outlets for post-collegiate basketball working together means more quality basketball at an increasingly higher level". The 2012 Albany Legends Combine is a two-day event scheduled for the weekend of January 14 and 15. Players will receive a full evaluation from team staff, workout and game tape, as well as try-out apparel. In addition, player profiles and game tape will be distributed across the Legends network of scouts and scouting agencies that assist in signing players to professional contracts.
The event will be hosted at MeKeel Christian Academy, 36-38 Sacandoga Road, Scotia, NY 12302 (formerly Schenectady Christian Academy). Tryout times are from 4:00pm to 7:00pm on Saturday, January 14th and 9:00am to 12:00pm on Sunday, January 15th . Interested athletes may pre-register before January 14th for $75 or pay at the door for $100.
To pre-register or for more information on becoming a Legend, contact General Manager Nicholas Dean at albanylegendsgm@aol.com.
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International Basketball League Stories from December 20, 2011
- Albany Legends Issue Casting Call For 2012 Roster - Albany Legends
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