NBTC wants to encourage players to stay in school, says Compton

Alex Compton. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Want to jumpstart your basketball career? Alaska head coach Alex Compton has an answer.

“Stay in school.”

Compton, the SM National Basketball Training Center training program director, said to be eligible for the tournament a student must be enrolled in a high school while playing for its basketball program.

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“We want to encourage kids to be enrolled in schools,” Compton said Thursday at Mall of Asia Arena. “Basketball is a great teacher of life, if you can use it to enforce discipline, teach things, improve lives, that’s the main goal of the program.

SM NBTC enters its eighth year and what began as a simple training program for high schoolers became a nationwide event with a national tournament and an All-Star game.

Compton added they want to help youngsters fulfill their dreams of reaching the PBA, at least by teaching them the principles and disciplines of life outside of basketball in such an early age.

“While we had the pleasure of now watching some of the players [who played in the NBTC] in the PBA , the vast vast vast majority don’t.”

“Ultimately that’s the tagline of NBTC, we want to teach the game, help the kids be better,” Compton said. “Develop the character for young men, and hopefully we can impact their lives.”