Future stars shine at GymRat showcase

The annual GymRat AAU basketball tournament, which holds its boys’ version this coming weekend, proudly proclaims itself as the place where stars begin to shine.

Now in its 20th year of local operation, the largest event of its kind in the east might even undersell itself with that proclamation.

Stars? How about the sport’s next superstars. Some of the players who have come through our confines for the youth event will eventually have plaques in the basketball Hall of Fame.

We have had some big-name athletes come through our region in our sporting history. But, what we get to watch in the GymRat event ranks right up there.

Let’s start with the NBA’s only unanimous Most Valuable Player award winner and, arguably, the best active player who isn’t LeBron James ... Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.

He played in the GymRat tournament more than a decade ago when he was a very slightly built 15-year old.

Back then he was considered to be a little small to be recruited by major colleges. He wound up at mid-major level Davidson, had a spectacular career there and, now, is a transcendent NBA star.

It was right here in our area that his star first began to shine.

One of our very own, Jimmer Fredette, has a similar story.

The Glens Falls High School product saw his first GymRat action as a 15-year old.

All of 5-foot-11 back then, Fredette shot so well that event talent evaluators Joe Loudis and Bob Pezzano selected him as an age-division MVG (Most Valuable GymRat).

It was Fredette’s breakthrough performance against national-level competition here that was a harbinger of what would be a stellar career at BYU, where he was the nation’s leading scorer as a senior, several NBA seasons and, now, a highly successful stay in China’s top pro league.

Two years ago, the break-out star at the GymRat was Mohamad Bamba, a 6-foot-11 standout who is finishing up his senior high school year.

The then-slender, longarmed and very athletic big man with a Bill Russell-like defensive abilities, subsequently drew the recruiting interest of every high-major level program nationally before recently committing to attend Texas. He is already being projected as either the first, or second pick in the 2018 NBA draft.

Our area got a good look when he was the GymRat’s MVG of the 2015 event.

We’ve been fortunate to see young talent like that, a who’s who of basketball, come into our region for the annual boys’ AAU tournament for the past 19 years.

This year’s event will bring in more than 320 teams to compete in six age brackets.

The oldest division attracts players entering their senior season in high school, performers currently being recruited by colleges. Several players from recent GymRats have wound up at Siena and UAlbany and dozens have played in the respective leagues of the two local Division I programs.

In all, close to two dozen of the teams competing will come directly from the Capital Region.

Games will be played next Saturday and Sunday, Memorial Day weekend, at Skidmore, Saratoga High School, RPI, Shenendehowa H.S. and the Saratoga Recreation Center.

Six age brackets will be contested. Games begin both days at 8 a.m. and continue into the night. Championships are determined in all six age brackets, and the title contests will be held on Sunday evening. Full details can be found on the tournament’s web site, gymratchallenge.com.

The full list of standouts who had GymRat success is long enough to fill an entire sports section. Dozens of NBA players, and thousands of Division I-level performers came through here to play.

Nearly half of those who play here wind up at some level of college basketball.

More future stars? One can start with the event’s earliest years when a tall young man had his first real national-level success here. This is where Emeka Okefor, playing for a Houston-area squad in 2000, began showing what he could do.

A few years later he helped UConn win a national championship and, then, was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft.

He hasn’t been alone among GymRat alums to play on national championship teams. Among others are Cole Aldrich, Loul Deng, Kemba Walker and Shabazz Napier.

Alums also include past NCAA rebound leaders Michael Beasley, Kenneth Farried and O.D. Anosike, who led the nation in rebounds twice while playing at Siena.

The NBA’s one-time Defensive Player of the Year, Joakim Noah, showed his early skills in the GymRat.

Several years ago a 15year old Shabazz Napier was playing for a Connecticut-based program at the GymRat event for two age-division teams. He played in eight games in less than 24 hours.

At one point, he was in a Siena College training room, dehydrated and getting fluids intravenously. He was advised to, maybe, take off the rest of the tournament.

Nope. Another game was coming up. Napier jumped off the training room’s table and head back out to the court. He had more games to play, more of his reputation to polish.

It was the indication of his fiery competitiveness that he eventually took to UConn where he was the leader of the 2013-14 team that won a national title. A few months later he was an NBA first-round draft pick and he just completed his third season at the pro level.

The event, as is the case with most AAU tournaments, tends to highlight players on the rise. It’s a great place to get noticed, for a star to stat shining.

There’s no telling who this year’s next stars will be. But, we can almost be sure there will be more than a few.

Maybe we’ll get to see the next Stephen Curry, the next Mo Bamba, the next Jimmer Fredette.

Next weekend we get to see who’s next, whose star starts shining brightly. Steve Amedio’s column appears every Sunday in The Record. He can be reached at hoopscibe1@ aol.com