Former Slam N Jam Soldiers Get Championship Rings

As the Boston Celtics celebrated their

131 - 92 win over the Los Angels 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 the Oakland Soldiers during their high school basketball careers.

Never has one seen a player develop as quickly as Leon Powe. He went from a freshman at Oakland Technical High School that could not make a left hand layup to the country's #3 rank player his junior year . He later went on to play for the for Cal Bears where he was named the Pac-10 Freshman of the Year in 2004. After a major knee injury slowed him down, Leon was still dominant enough to be drafted to the Celtics after his sophomore season in college.

Perkins from Beaumont Texas, was part of a Soldier team that many say was one of the best AAU teams ever assembled. That team consisted of the Top 3 ranked HS players in the country and two Top 100 ranked players. Team members were: #1 Lebron James, #2 Kenrick Perkins, #3 Leon Powe, Top 100 ranked Ayinde Ubaka, and Top 100 ranked Marquise Kately. Perkins was a first round pick out of high school, and is now the starting center for the Boston Celtics.

The electrifying Eddie House was incredible during his high school days at Hayward High. One SNJ coach remembers going to to see Eddie play for the first time, and he hit his first 6 shots in a matter of minutes. The coach left the gym after those few minutes saying that he saw enough, “He’s a Soldier”. This is the same guy that dropped 63 points on Cal while playing for Arizona State, joining Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the Pac Ten record books for the most points scored in a single game.

Powe, House, and Perkins join Chauncey Billups as Slam N Jam/Soldier alumnus to win a championship at the NBA level. The Slam N Jam / Soldiers program is very proud to have been a part of these great players lives, and congratulates them on becoming world champions.

Former Soldiers have been flourishing in the NBA. Last seasons NBA Championships included former players Drew Gooden and LeBron James when the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the 2007 NBA Finals.

After being asked about the accomplishments of the three former Oakland Soldiers, Carl Foster Co Director of Slam N Jam Youth Basketball commented “Seeing our guys accomplish such greatness gives our program inspiration, and gives the kids in the program a glimpse at what they can accomplish.” Co Director and Soldier coach Mark Olivier stated, “ I have been blessed to have coached most of these guys. Our program has been lucky to have so many great players. Now these players are examples for our current and future student athletes.