A piece of ‘The Rucker’ is coming to Melbourne in a historic partnership with Nike, Footlocker and ex NY streetballer Jermaine Maybank.

In 2014, ex Kansas State, now Victorian based basketballer, Jermaine Maybank nicknamed ‘The Humble One’ dreamt of bringing streetball to Australia.  

Growing up playing ball in the Bronx, New York from the age of 8, Jermaine knew all too well the harsh reality of breaking into professional basketball regardless of your skill level.

Fast forward to 2002, when Jermaine was 20, he started making a name for himself, showcasing his natural talent for the game playing in streetball tournaments at the infamous ‘Rucker’ courts in New York often frequented by college coaches and professional scouts.

It was during these tournaments that Jermaine finally got his break into college basketball having played for Kansas State and St. Johns University, top level Division 1 basketball.

 “The game of basketball comes with a lot of struggles, if you weren’t a high profile player or a top commodity coming through the ranks of high school, AAU or representing a junior association the world would never know about your talents and you would never earn the same respect as a ball player. The term for this in the professional basketball world is ‘basketball politics’, in streetball such a term doesn’t exist”.

“Streetball is a whole new platform for basketball here in Australia, there is currently over 1 million people playing registered basketball Australia wide, with the same challenges I faced as a child trying to break into the big time, I believe the way to help Aussie kids do this is to go back to my roots which is Streetball.

December 1 – December 3, 2017 Jermaine’s dream will become a reality with the signing of a major partnership with Nike and Footlocker bringing Jermaine’s inaugural streetball tournament - Streetball Australia to Docklands, Melbourne.

24 teams, including international teams from Tonga and Samoa will battle it out for the major prize of $25,000.

To enter head to: https://www.streetballaustralia.com registrations close 16^th October.