Pre-Trip: Jordan Brand International Tour

From February 21st through March 3rd, a group from Jordan Brand will travel to Europe to select 12 players for the inaugural International Game as part of the Jordan Brand Classic on Saturday, April 19th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  The following is a blog and daily photo gallery from Kevin Foley, who will be along for the trip.

Pre-Trip (February 20):  So over the next two days, I am going to find out how far 5,836 miles really is.  My trip starts in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona on Thursday at 9:20 am and ends in Vilnius, Lithuania at 1:50 pm on Friday.  The time difference is 9 hours and the trip involves three flights with connections through Washington, DC and Germany.  Throughout the trip, I will be posting a blog about our experience hosting regional training camps in Lithuania, Italy and Greece.  Over 90 of the top 15-16 year-old players throughout Europe have been invited to tryout for a chance to represent their region and travel back to the United States in April to participate in the Jordan Brand Classic International Game.  We are joined on the tour by two of the game's top teachers -- Tim Grover, Michael Jordan's former trainer, and Ganon Baker -- so this should be a memorable 10 days.

Last year, Jordan Brand launched this initiative with a incredible group of International Players.  Those players were selected from 10 different countries and came to New York City for a week to learn about American basketball.  As we embark on the search for the 2008 team, we wanted to look back at the foundation for this program a show what the '07 kids experienced.


Photo Gallery - A Look Back at 2007
Rich Sheubrooks of Nike Global Basketball addresses the players prior to practice at the Gauchos Gymnasium Coach Dave Hopla of the Toronto Raptors explains a drill to the Jordan Brand International players
      
Birkan Batuk (Turkey), Christophe Leonard (France), Nicolo Melli (Italy) and Maurice Stuckey (Germany) The International Team in New York City's Times Square
    
Zisis Sarikopoulos (Greece) meets film director Spike Lee The team poses with with Jordan Brand President Larry Miller and Spike Lee
   
Nicolo Melli and Tommaso Ingrosso of Italy The Jordan Brand International Team at the Statue of Liberty
Kenroy Woods (United Kingdom) The players visited NikeTown in New York City
Mark Lau from NikeTown and Birkan Batuk (Turkey) Christophe Leonard (France) shopping at NikeTown
Christophe Leonard (France) poses with a Kobe Bryant poster The players and the NikeTown Crew
Christophe Leonard (France) Birkan Batuk (Turkey)
Kenroy Woods (United Kingdom) Birkan Batuk (Turkey)
Christophe Leonard (France)  Jorge Santana Martos (Spain)
Jorge Santana Martos (Spain) Zisis Sarikopoulos (Greece)
   
Oz Billups (center) from Nike New York with all the players 2007 Jordan Brand International Team
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