Academy Aims, Objectives & Philosophy
24 October 2008
LORETO MAGIC BASKETBALL ACADEMY STARTS
2008/09 is the first year of the Academy. It is a partnership between the prestigious Loreto Sixth Form College in Manchester with the Manchester Magic, the highly successful basketball Club which operates from the Amaechi Basketball Centre.
The partnership will enable the selected boys to have daily practices, plus access to gym programmes suitable for their needs. Most of the players, as well as representing Loreto, will play for the Magic at weekends. Some of the first year intake are expected to play Division 3 Men's basketball and may even make sufficient progress to play for Magic 1.
As well as aspiring to excel academically, the Academy is designed to better prepare youngsters for a career as a professional basketball player. Currently, most youngsters move abroad to achieve this, but we hope that, in the long term, English basketball will mature sufficiently to allow players to remain in the UK and fulfil their basketball aspirations here.
We have listed some of the players who have gone on to play in the USA or in Europe or at a high standard:
| Callum Jones | Pace University | Div 2 NCAA | Junior |
| Jack Minister | Clark University | Div 3 NCAA | Junior |
| Joe Ransom | Suffolk University | Div 3 NCAA | Junior |
| Ben Murray | Mount Aloysius College | Div 3 NCAA | Junior |
| Lauren T-Johnson | Marquette University | Div 1 NCAA | Junior |
| Ben Eaves | Rhode Island University | Div 1 NCAA | Sophomore |
| Andrew Lovedale | Davidson College | Div 1 NCAA | Senior |
| Keith Page | Ursinus College | Div 3 NCAA | Junior |
| Verity Peets | Idaho State University | Div 1 NCAA | Sophomore |
| Stuart Thomson | Catawba College | Div 2 NCAA | Freshman |
| Phill Wait | St John's University | Div 1 NCAA | Freshman |
| Menelik Watson | Gran Canaria Academy | Spain | Second Year |
| Matt Williams | Proctor Academy | USA | Third Year |
| Kate Minister | Clark University | Div 3 NCAA | Freshman |
| Devan Bailey | Brewster Academy | USA | Third Year |
| Donald Okpalugo | Deerfield Academy | USA | Second Year |
| Nic Opacic | Belgrade Ac, Mega Aqua Monta | Serbia | Second Year |
| Richard McNutt | Mount Aloysius College | Div 3 NCAA | Sophomore |
| Georgia Jones | Oral Roberts University | Div 1 NCAA | Freshman |
| Ben Daniels | Gran Canaria Academy | Spain | First Year |
| Ben Ralph | Gran Canaria Academy | Spain | First Year |
| Tom Fox | USA | First Year | |
| Jack McCabe | IMG Academy, Florida | USA | First Year |
Perhaps you would also like to follow the progress of the following ex-Magic/Mystics players:
| Nick George | BCM Graveline Dunkerque | France |
| James Jones | Everton | BBL |
| Kristy Lavin | Caja Rural Verona Norte LF2 | Spain |
| Andy Thomson | Almeria LEB Bronze | Spain |
| Alan Metcalfe | Guildford Pirates | BBL |
| Rehana Khalil | Tenerife Aguere LF2 | Tenerife, Spain |
| Jamie Glen | Newcastle Eagles | BBL |
| Joanna Clayden | Arxil BC LF2 | Spain |
To find out more about how to make an application for a place in 2009/10. or to enquire about anything connected with the Academy, contact Joe Forber: 01625-527867, 07790-686496,or email: mmagic@tesco.net
