WS Chronicle

Coming up on May 18 and 19, girl high school basketball players will get the chance to show what they have in front of college coaches at the 23rd annual Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior College tournament and showcase held at the Gateway YWCA.

The event will allow coaches to get a firsthand look at the talented girls as they attempt to fill their rosters for the 2018-19 seasons and beyond. There will be a total of 32 teams competing from all across the Southeast.

“We are looking forward to a great tournament and we had to use Piedmont International University as a secondary site to accommodate all of the teams,” said event organizer Brian Robinson.

With May being really late in the recruiting season, Robinson says this gives the unsigned seniors a chance to be seen. Last year they had 12 girls participate in the individual workouts and six were signed to play afterward. His hopes are to exceed that number this year.

“They are just going to go out there and play and show what they can do in front of a college coach,” he continued.

According to Robinson, the tournament usually attracts 20 to 25 coaches from as far north as Washington D.C. and as far south as Georgia. He feels this is the perfect location to hold such a tournament because of the large number of Division II schools and HBCUs in Virginia and the Carolinas.

Robinson says many players have dreams of becoming Division I athletes but that is not the reality for most. He feels a lot of players do not realize the number of Division II or lower schools that have full scholarships to offer, which is one of the major points of the tournament and showcase.

“Not everyone is going to be a Division I player, and the numbers prove that playing on that level is hard to do,” he said. “There are so many kids across the globe that want to play at the Division I level of college basketball and a lot of times kids miss out on the opportunities that Division II, Division III, NAIA and Junior Colleges have to offer.”

“There is money there for them and in some cases you can get a full ride just like Division I but kids don’t know that because those schools are not on TV like the Dukes, Carolinas or Wake Forests of the world,” he went on to say.

Robinson stated that throughout the years the college coaches have informed him they really enjoy coming to his tournament because they do not have to fight against Division I schools while also being treated like they are Division I.

“The college coaches love it because they are the center of attention and we treat them like they are royalty,” said Robinson. “We feed them all day and the coaches understand the teams we bring in are quality.”

“The event keeps growing and Visit Winston-Salem is sponsoring it as well and I think that speaks for itself as far as the success of the tournament,” he stated.