NBA Academy has to cooperate with Indian basketball more, says national head coach Veselin Matic

The Indian basketball team head coach says, “India needs 15 to 20 top-class youngsters coming up every year; that means we will have around 120 players in six to seven years”

The NBA Academy in India has been a blessing for young basketball players, opening many dream doors and taking them to countries like the USA and Australia to train and compete with some of the world’s best.

But it has also thrown up a big problem.

“In India, we have the NBA Academy which is working to develop basketball. But without our knowledge they are sending players out of India, so how will we play,” asked Veselin Matic, Indian basketball’s head coach, in a chat with The Hindu on the sidelines of the INBL here.

“For example, we have Prince (Pranav), Amaan (Sandhu) and Princepal (Singh) out of India (they have gone to the US). They are all products from the NBA Academy we cannot use (for the national team). The NBA Academy has to cooperate with us more, we have to sit together and make a plan that is good for Indian basketball.

“I cannot say I’m unhappy (that they are going to the US), I’m just saying there should be a plan on how we can use the player.”

Unlike many other countries, India does not allow naturalised players to play for the national team so every player who goes abroad is a big loss.

“In women’s basketball, recently we had one player who was sent to the US by the NBA Academy. Later, she went for the Basketball Without Borders programme, had a good trip to Australia and after that she didn’t want to play for the national team. That is something that has to be controlled,” explained the 61-year-old from Serbia.