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“Our values are like none other team in the country. We expect to have the best developed men, and the best developed basketball players,” said a confident Ed Bright, president and general manager of Team Izod.

Team Izod is an AAU basketball program with headquarters in Fairfield, New Jersey. The program started 10 years ago, and has since expanded and become “the program of choice in the tri-city region,” according to Coach Bright.

However, one of the reasons the program was started was due to unfortunate circumstances. Bright’s sister passed away with a 7 weeks old son, so he decided to adopt his nephew as his son. As he grew up playing basketball, Bright began to fall in love with coaching, and at that time he decided he wanted to give every kid an opportunity to become a collegiate student-athlete.

“I wanted to create a place for inner city kids to come and get a good, positive experience,” he said.

The program focuses on developing young men with great values, morals, and common sense.

“They understand the ball with stop bouncing someday,” he said. “We want to make sure they have options after basketball, and that starts with their character on and off the court.”

Some of the ways they teach these athletes is by making them attend classes on how to dress properly and how to develop positive study habits. They also are given tutoring and prioritize academics as well as athletics.

Although Team Izod focuses on many other aspects of life besides basketball, they are even more focused on being a dominant basketball team.

Team Izod has a rich tradition of getting players to the next level. Some players on that list include Karl Towns, a McDonald’s All-American who will continue playing at Kentucky, and Wade Baldwin, who signed with Vanderbilt.

This year’s 17u team will boast some of the most talent in the country. Some of the players to look out for include Chris Silva, Pierre Sarr, and Matt Zignorski.

Silva and Sarr are high school teammates at Roselle Catholic High School, and look to continue their success on the court together with Team Izod. Silva is a 6’ 9” center with offers from Villanova, Syracuse, Cincinnati, and Creighton. Sarr is a 6’6” small forward with offers from Cincinnati, South Florida, and Boston University.

Coach Bright expects this team to make plenty of noise throughout the summer, and expects his team to win many national championships.

“Our coaching staff is second to none, and our players are even better,” he said. “We pride ourselves on defense, and we won’t let you score; plain and simple.”

As the spring season and summer approach, watch out for Team Izod at every level, as they will surely be in the running for championships across the country.