The National Basketball Association (NBA) India selected six students from the ACB-NBA Jump National Finals on Friday for its scholarship and training programme.

The Jump National Finals, held at the Jaypee Atlantic Integrated Sports Complex, had shortlisted a total of 50 male prospects on May 1 from the nationwide-scouting program and concluded with a final on May 3. In the finale, NBA India selected six players out of the 50 to hone their skills in the upcoming years. The players are Kushal Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Arvinder Singh (Punjab), Jitendra Kumar Sharma (Rajasthan), Janmejay Singh (Chandigarh), Vikrant (Haryana), and Manjot Singh (Punjab).

The newly selected prospects will be provided with a 100% scholarship at the NBA Academy India along with education, food, lodging, and training. These students can stay and continue their training till Class 12 or till 18 years of age at the NBA Academy in Jaypee Atlantic Integrated Sports Complex. It was in 2017 when the NBA launched The NBA Academy India.

Speaking to thestatesman.com, NBA India Head Of Basketball Operations Marc Pulles said, “It is a 360° program, we take care of their (Players’) lodging, food and practice. We have a technical director, coach for player development, and strength and conditioning coach as well.”

Asked about the selection procedure, Marc said, “We have regional scouts, international coaches and basketball operations team who work throughout the year to find the talent. This also includes social media campaign where players are asked to upload videos of their game to showcase their basketball skills, athletic ability and attitude. Connecting all these, we made a pool from which we had shortlisted 50 players for a 3-day program and today further shortlisted 6 of them in the final round.”

Vikram, one of the selected players told thestatesman.com: “I was playing in the Youth National Basketball Championship, members of the NBA academy watched my game there and called me here for the 3-day program.” Asked about his future goals, the 16-year-old said, “I want to hone my skills and play for India and if I get a chance, I would like to play in the NBA league as well.”

Before the final result was announced, the players had an interactive session with NBA player Harrison Barnes. Barnes, who plays for Sacramento Kings, motivated the students to grow further and play good basketball. He advised them to continue their studies as well.