Last year, there were some well-documented organizational issues throughout the inaugural event. As of late Wednesday evening, the NCAA certification from the 2008 adidas Spring Classic from last April was still not renewed for the 2009 period. The 2008 edition was held in Rock Hill, SC on the campus of Winthrop University. If this ruling holds, adidas will only have a single sponsored event this April in the Spring Classic on the campus of Bishop Gorman High School in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Adidas Consultant John “Pops” Phillips was not available for comment. However, JumpOffPlus.com Contributor Clyde Pritchett confirmed what I heard earlier in the day Thursday through an email conversation with Anthony Toney.
According to the adidas site (www.womanhoodgirlsbasketball.com), Toney serves as the National Events Director. Toney confirmed that the Rock Hill event was off and provided information on an alternative event. “The event (Southern Hoops Classic) will be taking place at Georgia State in Atlanta. It will start at 8:00 am Friday and goes through the weekend,” said Toney in the email. “I look forward to seeing you there.”
Some of the adidas teams located on this side of the Mississippi River have already changed their plans to play in alternate events based off of their websites. Chicago Hoops Express has listed that they will attend the USJN Windy City Classic (Chicago).
According to the adidas site, the plans for the previously listed adidas Womanhood National Championships in College Station, Texas have been altered as well. The event is no longer listed on the site as it was earlier this week. It would appear the event might have similar NCAA certification issues to the Spring Classic. The new details have not been released yet.
The adidas Board of Directors, led by Phillips, do have other plans in the works including an inaugural Candace Parker Top 24 Invitational in late July (Lander University - Greenwood, SC). They are also attempting to put together a National Team under the moniker of the Candice Parker Aces to go to either France or Japan in early August after the attempt to assemble such a single team to play in their 2008 Superstar Camp in College Station, Texas last July did not come to fruition. The concept is similar to the adidas Nations Experience Program (www.adidasnations.com) that the boys’ side has had success with the past two summers.