By Carlos Rodriguez |Staff writerThe Nike Peach Jam has been a major high school basketball event in North Augusta for the past 24 years. The event first started in 1996 with the original name being the Nike Peach Basket Classic, before it was changed to the Peach Jam in 1997.It all started in August 1995 when Clint Bryant, who at the time was the head coach of the Augusta University men’s basketball team, was contacted by Eddie Meyers, one of Bryant's friends. Meyers, a former Georgetown assistant, had told Bryant about Nike wanting to have a summer travel tournament. Bryant golfs, and Nike wanted an area that can provide that because coaches love to golf.The locations they had in mind were Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Biloxi, Miss. Bryant didn’t think either of those cities would be a good option.“Myrtle Beach would be no different than Vegas,” said Bryant, who now is AU's director of athletics. “In the summertime, it’s a mad house. It has only two or three high schools.”Those were all the negatives about Myrtle Beach. On Biloxi he stated, “Other than gambling, what is there?” Meyers believed those locations were good for golf because the coaches liked playing.That’s when Bryant proposed the idea of bringing the event to Augusta. Meyers questioned why bring it to Augusta, and Bryant had good reasons.“Augusta is known for golf; we have some really nice courses,” Bryant said.He also mentioned how Augusta had moved into Christenberry Fieldhouse four to five years previously.“In a mile and a half radius, I have seven, eight gyms,” Bryant told Meyers.Some of those gyms included Aquinas, Richmond Academy and EDS. Christenberry Fieldhouse would be the central location of the event.“Within four to five minutes of my gym you can get to any for those places,” Bryant said.Meyers called Bryant back to inform him that Nike was interested in the idea. Two weeks later, Meyers flew down to Augusta to visit the gyms with Bryant. After visiting each gym, none of them had the right feel.“I wasn’t real satisfied yet, and I don’t think he was,” said Bryant.After not finding any success, Bryant and Meyers were on the way to the airport for his flight home when Bryant decided there was still one more gym they could visit.It was a gym in North Augusta called Riverview Park Activities Center (RPAC). Bryant was hosting a basketball camp there in a few weeks but hadn’t seen the gym in person. When they arrived, they were speechless.“We walked in, and we said, 'Oh, my God, this is it,'” Bryant said.RPAC had four gyms at the time, and Bryant felt coaches would be able to walk around easily and watch one game on one court then another on a different court. Now RPAC has expanded to six courts.Bryant wanted certain things to be implemented into the event every year. He wanted the 100 Black Men of Augusta to be involved, Augusta Sports Council to play a role and for a local team to participate in the event. The 100 Black Men and Augusta Sports Council are still involved, but since about 10 years ago there hasn’t been a local team.Before the first Peach Jam was set to take place, there was one problem. It was 1996, which was the year that Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics. The Olympic committee had booked every hotel within a two-hour radius of Atlanta from mid-July to early August. Cities like Augusta, Macon, Savannah, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Greenville, S.C. were all booked. Good news came a month before the event was set to take place. The Olympic committee released the hotels.The first game of the first ever Peach Jam was played between the Augusta Metros and Team Europe. Team Europe had one specific player on the team who would wind up being a 14-time NBA all-star in Dirk Nowitzki. From 1995-1997, the Metros featured local players such as Will Avery (Duke), Ricky Moore (UConn), Tyrone Shine (Seton Hall) and Vonteego Cummings (Pitt), who would go on to play NCAA Division I basketball along with other Augusta-area players.“Gerald Daise, Keenan Mann, Tim Daniels, Chad Cook, all of them were coaches for the Augusta Metros,” Bryant said.All of them had played for Augusta University as well and were coached by Bryant.“We blew out Team Europe, and we didn’t think much of it,” said former assistant Cook.The Metros would go on to struggle in pool play that first year and finish with a 2-3 record. Despite not making it out of pool play, the Metros competed with top programs. The win over Team Europe remains sweet, as Nowizki's team would go on to make it to the final four.“We had represented the hometown well,” Cook said.Cook mentioned the team didn’t know of Nowitzki at the time but realized who he was years later.“He didn’t stand out at the time, but we all know where he went from there," Cook said.Cook credits former Jags Buck Harris and Keenan Mann for leading the “golden age of Augusta-area basketball,” which is still talked among residents today.Other future NBA stars would go on to play at the Peach Jam, including Yao Ming, Chris Paul, Dwyane Wade and Anthony Davis. Bryant mentions enjoying guys like Tyson Chandler, Derrick Rose and Trae Young.“The list just goes on and on,” Bryant said.Back when the event first started and for the first few years, coaches would get in for free but now pay hundreds of dollars for player packets.
“What shocked everybody is that over 500 coaches showed up,” Bryant said. “Everybody’s here, from John Thompson to John Chaney to Bobby Knight to Roy Williams.”The Peach Jam created something different from any other previous national basketball tournaments for high school aged players.“It was a centralized effort from a well-funded organization with the purpose of giving college coaches everything they could wish for,” Cook said.At first the event was only for 17-and-under teams.“We had games in the morning, then took a break until 5:30 or 6 o'clock,” Bryant said. “With that the coaches can play golf.”Since then the tournament directors have added 16-and-under and 15-and-under divisions, and now it’s an all-day event. Nike Nationals, the girls' version of the event that is played a couple weeks after Peach Jam, was also brought to RPAC and spent over 10 years there before moving to Chicago.In 2010 the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League was created. It consists of 40 teams that are split into four pools during the regular season. Only 24 teams in the 17-and-under division qualify for Peach Jam. The top five seeds in each pool automatically qualify while an additional four at-large bids. Only 16 teams qualify for Peach Jam in both the 16-and-under and 15-and-under divisions.In this year's recently completed Peach Jam, Mokan Elite from Kansas came out victorious in a 85-84 overtime win over Team WhyNot from California. It was Mokan Elite's second championship in four years. In the 16-and-under championship, Team Griffin from Oklahoma defeated Team Takeover from Virginia in overtime 75-73. In the 15-and-under championship, Nightrydas Elite of Florida defeated Team Final of Pennsylvania 83-79.In Peach Jam 2019, beside the championship games, there were many contests filled with excitement. Georgia’s lone 17-and-under team, AOT, battled Boo Williams of Virginia in a game for the ages that resulted in a 93-91 overtime win for Boo Williams.“The best Peach Jam basketball game I’ve ever seen,” Cook said of AOT v. Boo Williams. “I believe for people who love basketball, the Peach Jam is every bit as impressive as the Masters.”Next year Nike will host its 25th Peach Jam. Bryant wants to have an opening ceremony to celebrate.“Nike talked about bringing the top 50 players to ever play at Peach Jam,” Bryant said. “It’ll be anxious to see who Nike picks.”Bryant still goes to the event every year. He loves how its known throughout the country and spoken highly of by people.The AU AD is not alone among the hoops coaching fraternity who attend. High school coaches also attend, such as Freddy Johnson, who was won more than 1,000 games at Greensboro Day School in North Carolina. For a few days, North Augusta becomes a basketball mecca.“The best travel ball event in the country,” Bryant said. “Hopefully, it’ll be here for years to come.”
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.