Team Izod/Sports U AAU Team - Dedicated On & Off The Court

Team Izod/Sports University's 15-Under AAU basketball team enjoyed a splendid summer. Team members included, from left, kneeling in front: Jordan Forehand, rising freshman at St. Anthony; Isiah Calderon, rising sophomore starting point guard at Neptune; Matt Williams, soph at St. Anthony; Tyquan Burno, soph at St. A's; Dilepso Blanco, soph at St. A's and Marvin Williams, Ferris. Standing: President/GM Ed Bright, Josh Brown, frosh at Morristown-Beard; Jimmy Hall, soph at St. A's; A.J. Cooper, East Orange Campus; Jerome Frink, soph at St. A's; Matthew Rennie, soph at Rutgers Prep; Rashard Andrews, soph at St. A's, Frank Burno, head coach and Brian Coleman, executive director, Team Izod/SUbasketball operations.

Speech Communications specialist Patty Popadics (left) and President/GM Ed Bright address the players and parents of Team Izod/Sports University during a springtime educational session at the SU facility in Fairfield.

Team Izod/SU players and parents are an attentive audience as communications specialist Patty Popadics discusses techniques involved in effective non-verbal communications at Sports University.

FAIRFIELD- It was not your typical evening at an Essex County training facility where athletes are busy either pumping iron or working on speed and fitness, but that’s where this summer’s successful Team Izod/Sports University AAU basketball program tipped-off with one of the most important facets of its 2009 season.

The subject for players and parents to listen in on and participate in on an early spring evening was “Non-Verbal Communication.” Speech and communications specialist Patty Popadics went through a series of activities that were both fun and educational.

While the subsequent on-court success for Team Izod/Sports U has been exemplary as the summer season has seen big performances from the Fairfield-based team across America, the dual goal of also achieving educational goals off the court remains paramount for the folks behind the goal-oriented AAU program.

“Our commitment is for our players to be very well-rounded,” said Team Izod/Sports U General Manager and President Ed Bright. “We not only want to develop great basketball players we want to help young men become great citizens and a big part of that is how you present yourself.

“The ability to focus and communicate, whether it’s interviewing for a job, speaking with a college administrator or simply carrying on a meaningful conversation, is vital as these players move throughout their life.”

The 15-and-under Team Izod/Sports U squad certainly racked up the noteworthy achievements this summer:

• Main Event Las Vegas gold champions

• 8th place in USA AAU D1 National championships

• Finalist at the 2009 NJ AAU D1 championships

• Final Four at Rumble In the Bronx

• 2-time Garden State Sharpshooters 15U champion

• Final Four in Playaz Tune-Up

• Final Four in Philly Invitational

The 15-U and 16-U squads both excelled at the Main Event, sponsored by Vision Sports in Las Vegas, NV, July 21-26. The Main Event draws more than 600 teams from all over the world and is one of the featured tournaments during the July “live” period for college coaches.

While Team Izod/Sports U’s 15-U captured its title, the 16-U squad also did well, winning its bracket while going 3-0 with a margin of victory of 30-plus points. Team Izod/SU defeated last year’s winner, the Oklahoma Thoroughbreds, and advanced to the Final Four while going 6-1, losing a very close 1-point game to the Drew Gooden Soldiers of Oakland, Calif.

Back in mid-July, at the 15-U AAU Nationals in Tennessee, finishing eighth out of 82 teams in a very competitive field.

When the 15-U AAU Nationals kicked off its event with academic seminars, Team Izod/SU from Essex County, N.J. fit right in.

“In my opinion, there’s nothing average about Team Izod/Sports University,” said Bright after his team survived two overtimes to beat the New York Gauchos in the championship bracket of the tourney. “We stress things that go beyond what’s expected of a lot of inner-city basketball players.”

Frank Burno, the fine coach of Team Izod/SU’s 15-U squad and the brother of former St. Anthony star guard Rashon Burno, knows what the mission is for his young basketball team based out of the Sports University state-of-the-art facility in Fairfield.

“It’s about character building,” said Burno. “We’vehad actual therapists come in and show our players how to interview and how to present oneself in public.”

The players also appreciate what they experience with Team Izod/SU.
“I love it,” said guard Matthew Johnson, a freshman at St. Anthony. “Not only are we getting a chance to learn how to become men, but we get to see things that we never would have the opportunity to do.”

During 2008, the team traveled to Iceland. Next spring, trips to China and Germany are planned. This past spring Team Izod/SU hosted a team from Israel’s Gaza border area, under the tutelage of former Israeli star Tal Brody, for a special cultural exchange week and a basketball contest in Jersey City.

On hand that early spring Sunday afternoon at the Charter School in Jersey City was St. Anthony legendary coach Bob Hurley. Several of the Team Izod/SU players are in the Friars’ strong hoops program.

Always working both behind the scenes and out in front with Team Izod/SU is its coach Darryl Dawkins, the former NBA star. “Chocolate Thunder” spends time with both the 16-U and 15-U squads always acting as a valuable motivator and teacher.

“I just love working with the kids and it’s all about developing well-rounded young men,” Dawkins said during an early-season event. “The entire season is centered around education and basketball.”

For now, there are still games to be played before calling it a season leading up to the Sept. 24 team get-together to have food and share camaraderie and memories of a 2009 AAU hoops campaign.

You can rest assured that in addition to trips abroad and tournaments near and far in 2010, there will be more visits from distinguished people in education and in the world of government, including the fine communications specialist Patty Popadics and others such as Peter Harvey, New Jersey’s first African-American attorney general, who also spoke with Team Izod/SU in 2009.

“We want to help our young men get college scholarships, but we-most of all-want to prepare them for life as productive and well-rounded young citizens in the world,” said Bright. “It’s an on-going process and these kids and their parents believe in what we’re trying to accomplish.”