National Preparatory Association Announces London Basketball Academy as 10th Member
The National Preparatory Association is proud to announce its 10th member– London Basketball Academy out of London, Ontario. The team is led by Head Coach Angelo Provenzano–a staple in the London basketball community.
Provenzano, a longtime coach at the club and high school level in London, realized the need for higher level basketball in London, when he was dealing with the development of his own son.
“The one thing he could get here was the coaching, we do have great coaching here in Canada,” said Provenzano. “But what we couldn’t provide here is competitive practices, with 10, 12 very strong players who all wanted to get to the next level. He couldn’t play against NCAA Division 1 competition every game, while he saw D1 guys every game he played down in the U.S.”
When the opportunity with the NPA came around, Provenzano knew this would be a good chance for Canadian kids who were looking to get to the next level and weren’t getting the right opportunities in their regular high schools.
“It’s been a long time coming, I wish we arrived at this point five years ago, but for many reasons I guess we weren’t ready for that-now that we are as a basketball scene in the country.”
The LBA players will work out of H.B. Beal Secondary.
The H.B Beal and London Gold Medal programs have been a powerhouse in London hoops, and have helped develop NCAA players such as Anrold Mayorga (Long Island University), Adam Jespersen (Hawaii) and Devon McBride (Syracuse) to name a few.
The four coaches running the LBA are all teachers, which gives an indication of the emphasis academics will have in their program.
On the court, the London squad will be young and have a lot of fire, led by point guard Jalen Warren from Milton, Ontario.
Warren is fresh off a successful season with Bishop Reding which saw the young guard take over some important games on their run through GHAC. Warren, who has already garnered interest from D1 programs, will be with London for the next few years and get a chance to develop with the program.
Provenzano is excited to have Warren at the helm for his team, stating he is the best guard he’s coached since Canadian national player Sherman Hamilton.
Another young but promising player for the LBA will be Mississauga’s Joseph Hlady. The 6’7” wing who played his club ball with Grassroots AAU has only been playing basketball for a few years and has an incredibly high ceiling.
Joshua Inkumsah has some REAL physical tools to work with … http://t.co/UQNxgjGalW @NorthPoleHoops @CanadianNIT
— Nikolaus Zefi (@NikZefi_) July 16, 2015
Provenzano also recently gained a commitment from 6’6′ Josh Inkumseh, a promising young man who can shoot the ball and will be another prospect who will gain from the development he receives with the LBA.
This program will have a young core, that will ensure sustainability for the future.
“We’re going to have predominantly out of town talent to start out with this year, and we’ve got a great feeder system in Gold Medal,” says Provenzano. “We’ve got some really great Grade 8, 9 and 10 teams that are probably a year away from playing at this level, but will be ready to make that jump.”
Provenzano is excited for the upcoming season and knows it will be a challenge every step of the way to prove themselves, but he’s confident the London squad will compete week in and week out.
“First of all I think the competition is incredible, every announcement I hear about the NPA impresses me more and more, there are coaches out there that are doing an unbelievable job getting talent into this league.”
“I expect us to be competitive. I think the strength of our program is development, but that doesn’t happen right away, so we got a good blend of young and old kids, and of course the young kids will be in the system for two or three years and I think that’s when we will really have a chance to develop them. Jackson Mayers is one of our fifth year guys from London who will bring some maturity to this team. He’s a 6’3” wing from Sir Fredrick Banting that will definitely help lead this team.”
London Basketball Academy joins Saskatchewan’s Athol Murray College of Notre Dame, British Columbia’s B.C. Christian, New Brunswick’s Rothesay Netherwood, Quebec’s Thetford Academy, Toronto’s St Mike’s, TBA and Central Tech Prep, Ottawa’s Topflight Academy and Sault Ste Marie’s The Tech Academy Titans.
Welcome to the league–A Nation Inspired.
#GameSpeaks #NPA
