Slam N Jam Youth Basketball Program

SOLDIERS

DREW GOODEN'S SOLDIERS HANG OUT
WITH GOODEN AT AAU NATIONALS

The Soldiers, Coaches, and Drew Gooden on the lake

The Drew Gooden Soldiers 14U Team went to Orlando, Florida for the AAU National Tournament of Champions. The Soldiers won 7th place. The kids also had a chance hang out with Drew Gooden at his house in Florida and Drew also came to watch several of the team’s games.
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DREW GOODEN'S SOLDIERS TAKE
" THE TUNE UP" TOURNAMENT
Drew Gooden Soldiers 16's (Silver)

The Gooden Soldiers 16's (Silver) won the 1st annual Tune-Up Tournament in Fresno, CA, July 5-6. The Soldiers defeated the Richmond Bad Boyz 68-66. The Soldiers were down 21 points at halftime. The Soldiers remained undefeated in the tournament.

DREW GOODEN'S SOLDIERS WIN AT NIKE MAIN EVENT
LAS VEGAS TOURNAMENT

DREW GOODEN'S SOLDIERS 16U

THE SOLDIER FAMILY

Drew Gooden Soldiers 16U team coached by Mark Olivier won the 16U title by beating none other that the King James Shooting Stars (LeBron James’ Team) from Akron, Ohio in the Championships. The Soldiers went undefeated during tournament play.

Drew Gooden Soldiers 17U team had an outstanding showing at the Nike Main Event tournament. They made it to the Final Four and lost to Houston Hoops in semi final play. This was a fine accomplishment highlighted by beating the King James Shooting Stars from Akron Ohio in front of LeBron James and his mother Gloria James both whom are also supporters of the Soldier program.
Drew Gooden came to Vegas to catch the games and also hang out with the team.

FORMER SOLDIERS GET
NBA CHAMPIONSHIP RINGS

powe
Eddie House and Leon Powe

perkins
Kendrick Perkins

As the Boston Celtics celebrated their 131 - 92 win over the
Los Angeles Lakers in the last game of the 2008 NBA Finals, three Celtics players drew the attention of the Bay Area basketball community. These three players contributed greatly to the Boston Celtics winning this championship. These three players were all members of the Soldiers youth basketball program. The Big Three; Leon Powe, Eddie House and Kendrick Perkins played for the Oakland Soldiers during their high school basketball careers.
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HOLMAN STARTS OVER holman
Eli Holman

We recently had the opportunity to talk with former Richmond High and Soldier basketballer Eli Holman. He has completed the first summer session at Detroit, his new school, and is now awaiting fall classes. Asked why Detroit and why Coach Ray McCallum, Holman said, "Coach McCallum was my main recruiter [when Holman was at Richmond High and McCallum an Indiana assistant] and we built a personal relationship that goes beyond basketball. I can talk to him about anything. Indiana is a great university, I enjoyed my time there and felt a lot of love from a number of people but I was just close with Coach McCallum and I'm excited now about being at Detroit." Holman shoots his trademark lefty jumper during a game last season while at Indiana About what he gleaned from his IU departure and the resulting media frenzy, Holman offered, "There's a lesson in everything. I definitely have learned whether it be from my time at Indiana or my past high school experiences. He added, "It's interesting how I shock people when what they have read about me is different from what they see in person. I get asked 'are you the same guy?'"

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OBEYSEKERE
DEVELOPING
SHOTBLOCKER
Eric Obeysekere

Eric Obeysekere is the name and blocking shots is currently the best asset of his multi-facted game. In fact, Slam-N-Jam organization and basketball trainer Carl Foster actually goes this far: "Eric is the best shotblocker in northern California."
The 6-foot-8 Obeysekere swatted away 6.1 shots a game as a Matador last season.

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