Fall Academy rages on for Ballers Nation

Even with the Summer grind being months away, Ballers Nation has continued to work with the organization's annual Fall Academy to push the best and brightest student-athletes from across the area. Last weekend, there was even a special guest who made an appearance.

"It was truly a pleasure to have Coach Ani Umana come back home and provide this great opportunity to our guys. Ani has truly built a resume for himself as a national evaluator, high school head coach (TACA Storm), and NBA Scout. His platforms get a lot of attention nationally from some of the most respected individuals and college coaches at all levels in the game and business of basketball," Ballers Nation CEO and Founder Brian Crawford said.

Umana appeared for two camps: one for East Texas high school student-athletes and another for middle school student-athletes. He led his Storm to a 26-6 regular-season record last season. That dominant year helped Umana earn the 2023 Southwest Athletic Interscholastic Conference Coach of the Year Award.

Crawford then took a moment to look back to not only Umana's success on the court but when he coached under the Ballers Nation brand as well. 

"We watched him grow as a former player of both Coach Coppock and I at Bishop Gorman from 2007 to 2012 and we experienced success there with a district championship and a TAPPS Elite 8 and Final 4 appearance during his time. He also had a stint where he was our High School Head Coach/Director of Recruiting for Ballers Nation Basketball during my time away coaching college basketball from 2010 to 2015 (UT Tyler, Navarro, and TAMUC) and he helped get some East Texas kids on the state map and that group had several Division 1 and college signees as well." Crawford then concluded, "to see him continue to grow as a leader, coach, but most importantly a man of God has truly been a blessing and I look forward to seeing him continue to Chase Greatness in life!"

Coach Crawford looked forward to having Umana again to help deliver evaluations and to continue to build the Ballers Nation brand through his experience and insight. 

You can find the most recent photos from the week 3 sessions with the link below. 

PHOTOS