Elite high school basketball is going global.
IMG Academy and SPIRE Academy are among the founding members of ATLAS, a new competition platform featuring top academy and prep programs in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
The 11-school circuit will launch in November and play a round-robin, transatlantic schedule before a season-ending championship event next spring.
Mike Morreale — the former commissioner of the Canadian Elite Basketball League — will have the same role for Atlas, which is operated by WorldStage Sports. Spire coach Kevin Boyle will serve as the platform’s chief basketball officer.
Announcements on funding, sponsorships and media rights are expected prior to tipoff.
The schools:
IMG Academy (Fla.)
SPIRE Academy (Ohio)
DME Academy (Fla.)
Prolific Prep (Fla.)
Sunrise Christian (Kan.)
Orangeville Prep (Ont.)
Orange1 Bassano (Italy)
Pallacanestro Varese (Italy)
OrangeAcademy Ulm (Germany)
Mega Basket (Serbia)
Žalgiris (Lithuania)
All 11 teams will compete in a season-opening event at IMG’s Bradenton campus on Nov. 11-13.
The schedule will be a mix of all-team and small group competition events. Atlas will also have events at Spire’s campus in Geneva, Ohio, several Florida locations, Phoenix, Italy, Lithuania and Toronto.
All teams will compete at the events in Kaunas (Jan. 4-7), Phoenix (Feb. 18-20) and the season-ending championship event in Toronto on March 4-7.
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