The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops

TEAM RIGHTS OWNERS

Team Rights Owners own the rights to one of the eight teams competing in The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops. These Team Rights Owners fill their roster with top-flight players in an attempt to win the The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops Final.

The team names, imagery and ownership remain the property of Elite Classic Basketball (ECB), the holding company of The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops. Team names are purchased each year by the Team Rights Owners for use in that particular year's event.

Team names trademarked are Fleet, Rush, Rays, Coasters, Cyclones, Pythons, Monarchs and Reef. Team names will be available for a Team Rights Owner to hold for one year from the date of the Press Conference announcement on 21 January 2010.

This ultimate control of the team names and imagery is a huge distinguishing factor from other professional basketball leagues and events, as it allows the ECB to ensure quality control, imagery to be top class, and uniforms to display only desired sponsorship. A fantastic 'look and feel' will permeate The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops as a result of this structure.

This major basketball event will be short, sharp and lucrative. Other sports have adapted to the huge appetite being shown by fans for dynamic events where players are well-rewarded for high level play over a short period of time. The Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops ensures basketball meets this appetite.

TEAM RIGHTS OWNERS:
COASTERS - Julie Corletto
CYCLONES - Nick Blackwood
FLEET - Brett Maher
MONARCHS - John de la Torre

TEAM RIGHTS OWNERS:
PYTHONS - Lance Franklin
RAYS - Patrick Reidy & Matt Shanahan
REEF - Dale Ryan & Stewart Briggs
RUSH - Lanard Copeland

Julie Corletto
Team Rights Owner of the Coasters

Date of Birth: October 31st, 1986

Julie Corletto is a world-class netballer currently playing for the Melbourne Vixens and the Australian Diamonds national team. An athletic defender, Corletto’s speed and agility combined with good height sees her constantly matched up to oppose some of the best attackers in elite netball. Making her national league debut at the age of 16, it has been a rapid rise for Corletto, having previously spent several seasons playing Goal Defense for the Melbourne Phoenix and Kestrels.

Corletto was awarded the “Best New Netball Talent” at the 2004 Netball Australia Annual Awards Dinner and since then has continued to build her impressive resume, the highlights of which include:

A National Championship with the Melbourne Phoenix
Captaining the Australian Under 21 team on two overseas tours
A senior Diamonds debut against Jamaica in 2007
Ultimate success in November 2007 when she was a key member of the Diamonds in their World Netball Championship win in New Zealand
Corletto capped off a fantastic 2009 in which the Vixens won the ANZ Championship by winning the Liz Ellis Diamond at Netball Australia’s Annual Awards.

Did You Know?

Julie is currently combining her netball training with study as she works on completing her Physical Education Degree at Victoria University.
Julie is an ambassador for San Remo Pasta, having appeared in many national television campaigns for the company.
Julie is married to Darryl Corletto, sharp shooting guard for the Melbourne Tigers in the NBL. It will be interesting to see if Julie reserves a spot on her Coasters' roster for her husband…

Lanard Copeland
Team Rights Owner of the Rush

Date of Birth: July 26th, 1965

When you think of Lanard Copeland the mind immediately heads to high-flying alley-oops, athletic open-court play, and the ability to shoot from range in high-pressure situations. Copeland had a long and distinguished career, most notably as part of an amazing backcourt tandem. Copeland and the legendary Andrew Gaze combined to create the most famous basketball scoring duo of all time in this country. The Atlanta-born tall guard started his NBL career in 1992 and became a major contributor to the popularity of the sport during the 1990’s.

The flashy, athletic and unorthodox scorer set gyms alight throughout the League and helped the Melbourne Tigers become the most well-known basketball brand in the nation. Playing most of his 530 game career with the Tigers, Copeland also had stints with the Brisbane Bullets and Adelaide 36rs and remained an effective contributor until his recent retirement. Accolades are impossible to list in their entirety but some highlights include:

Championships with the Tigers in 1993 and 1997
Grand Final MVP in 1997
NBL All-Star in 1992, 1994 and 2004
All-NBL First Team in 1999 and 2002

Did you know?

Lanard made the NBA as a free agent in 1989 with the Philadelphia 76rs after a successful college career at Georgia State. During his NBA stint he played alongside one of the all-time greats of the game, Charles Barkley, and with and against such players as current Boston Celtics Coach Doc Rivers.
Copeland wasn’t just an effective shooter, he was known as an extremely sharp-witted talker on the court and savvy dresser off it.

Lance “Buddy” Franklin
Team Rights Owner of the Pythons

Date of Birth: January 30th, 1987

Lance Franklin debuted for the Hawthorn Football Club (AFL) in 2005, setting the elite game alight with his athletic, effective and dazzling style of play. He has since become one of the AFL’s most popular players. Franklin is affectionately known as “Buddy” and at just 23 years of age has already accomplished much in Australia’s most popular football code:

A Premiership with Hawthorn in 2008
All-Australian selection in 2008
The Coleman Medal (most goals in the AFL) in 2008
Best & Fairest Award with Hawthorn in 2008
Representation in the AFL Hall of Fame Match in which he kicked four goals for the Dream Team.

For all of this success, Franklin has many more years in the game to come, so the sky is very much the limit.

Did you know?

Buddy has indigenous Australian heritage and acknowledges this by wearing with pride a tatoo of a tribal elder and aboriginal artwork on his arm, as well as by participating in indigenous youth programs.
Sport runs in Buddy’s family. His father, Lance Sr., represented his state in hockey and his older sister, Bianca, was an accomplished netballer in the ANZ Championship for the West Coast Fever.

Brett Maher
Team Rights Owner of the Fleet

Date of Birth: April 17th, 1973

Brett Maher is regarded as one of Australia’s all-time, home-grown greats. His long and successful career was recognised at the beginning of the 2009 NBL season with the Dome stadium court in Adelaide being renamed “Brett Maher Court” -- the ultimate honour for a player who contributed so much to that city’s team.

Maher, a one-team player throughout his career, formed quite the resume during his 18 years on the main stage. He represented Australia at Olympic Games in 1996, 2000 and 2004 and at the World Championships in 1998, and played a huge hand in Adelaide 36er Championships in 1998, 1999, and 2002, winning the Larry Sengstock Grand Final MVP medal in 1999 and 2002. Success was a constant in Maher’s career and he was known for his effective leadership in an understated manner, yet with a fierce competitive mentality. Off the court, Maher always had the reputation of being a gentleman of the game.

Did you know?

Brett only fouled out of a game once in 17 seasons, during the 1994 Grand Final.
During his playing days, Brett’s right hand was known as “The Money Maker” and the story goes that he became very superstitious of anyone touching the Money Maker before each game.
Brett created the Hudson Maher Foundation after his son tragically passed away of HLH. The Foundation was created to assist parents in coping financially with the demands of interstate relocation for care and treatment of children with severe illness.

Nick Blackwood
Team Rights Owner of the Cyclones

Nick Blackwood, who spent a four-year stint in US college basketball in the early nineties but suffered chronic knee problems his senior year, will now have a chance to assemble a top flight roster. His Cyclones' squad will compete with seven others for the $175,000 first prize, part of the overall quarter-million dollar pool. Blackwood has experience in basketball initiatives, having created the "Sydney Basketball League" - the largest private basketball league in Australia with over 400 registered players. Additionally, Blackwood has been a distributor for an international basketball shoe brand and continues to distribute and market sporting brands throughout Australia. He conducted two successful televised streetball basketball events in 2005 and 2008.

Patrick Reidy and Matt Shanahan
Team Rights Owners of the Rays

With 468 games under his belt including a Championship with the Giants in 1994, and 104 games for Australia including the 1996 Olympics and 1994 World Championships, Patrick Reidy is looking forward to an official return to basketball.

Did you know?

Reidy first played basketball at age 13, and represented Australia just 5 years later.
Reidy's brother-in-law is NBL Hall-of-Famer and Olympian Darryl Pearce.

Matt Shanahan, the former South Dragons captain with three NBL Championships and more than 400 games over 16 NBL seasons on his resume, is also a graduate of the Australian Institute of Sport. Impressively, he also won a Silver Medal in the World Championships with the Under 21 Men's Australian side.

Did you know?

Shanahan was a member of the first ever Australian Men's Team to beat a USA team in international competition.
Shanahan competed against the likes of Stephon Marbury, Kevin Garnett, and Vince Carter at the U21 World Champoinships in 1994.

Dale Ryan and Stewart Briggs
Team Rights Owners of the Reef

Highlights from Dale Ryan's career in basketball include:

Melbourne Tigers and Victorian State Junior Representative
Development Player for North Melbourne Giants 1994-96 (NBL Champions 1994)
ABA player for 6 years
Brisbane Bullets Assistant Coach 2003-2008 (NBL Champions 2007)
In 2008 established company Assist Sports specialising in basketball development, coaching and clinics/camps
Development Manager for Brisbane Basketball Association
Head Coach of Brisbane Capitals QBL Men's team

Ryan is in full support of the Foot Locker Elite Classic - High Stakes Hoops for a number of reasons. "Having been involved with the sport for many years this is definitely one of the most dynamic concepts to be introduced to basketball in Australia. We are hoping that the Reef franchise may in a small way fill the void left by the absence of the Bullets team in Brisbane, by involving some past Bullets players and showcasing some of South East Queensland's best players".

Stewart Briggs is well known in South East Queensland through his Acceleration business.

Acceleration can help you move faster, get stronger and jump higher specifically for basketball. We have helped over 1200 basketball players since the year 2000, with everyone from an U/12 club player all the way up to Boomers preparing for the Olympics. If you need to work on your basketball athleticism or you simply want to reduce the likelihood of injury, then give us a call at 1 300 661 847 or check our website at www.AccelerationBasketball.com.

"I am very excited to be part of event which I think will help basketball in Australia. This is an opportunity for many players, coaches and sponsors to get national exposure to a level which has not been seen for a very long time." Stewart Briggs, Managing Director of Acceleration