ACC basketball fans soon will be able to get a summer glimpse of players from defending national champion Duke, UNC and N.C. State playing in a more relaxed setting.
The third annual S.J.G. Greater NC Pro-AM Summer Basketball League, organized by former UNC player Jerry Stackhouse, will run from July 1 to Aug. 8 at N.C. Central.
The summer league's roster includes Raleigh's John Wall, but it's not clear whether the Kentucky star guard projected to go No. 1 overall in Thursday's NBA Draft, will play. He has played in the league in the past.
Duke's Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Mason and Miles Plumlee and incoming freshman guard Kyrie Irving all are expected to play, as are UNC's John Henson, Dexter Strickland and incoming freshmen Reggie Bullock and Harrison Barnes. N.C. State's Tracy Smith and incoming Wolfpack freshmen Ryan Harrow, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie are also expected, along with the Charlotte Bobcats' Raymond Felton of UNC and the Los Angeles Lakers' Josh Powell of N.C. State.
A select group of elite high school players, including highly rated prospects P.J. Hairston (Greensboro's Dudley High School), Quincy Miller (High Point's Westchester Academy), Dezmine Wells (Raleigh Word of God Christian Academy) and the younger brother of the Plumlee brothers, Marshall Plumlee (Asheville's Christ School), also have signed up to play.
Games will be held every Tuesday and Thursday night at N.C. Central from 6-10 p.m. The league's tournament finals will be held Aug. 6-8.
The S.J.G. Greater NC Pro-AM league not only pairs up-and-coming players with seasoned professionals, it also reaches out to the local community and works with groups like Communities in Schools of Durham, International Dementia Research Foundation, American Diabetes Association and The Triple Threat Foundation, Stackhouse said.
"I think people love basketball and they come out and try to support it. We want to do more than that, though; we want to bring out different aspects of the game," Stackhouse said Tuesday afternoon at a Durham news conference. "We hope we can guide them to their dreams, no matter what level, and the path they want to go on."
