McDonald's All-American Nominees

In its 20th year, Essence Girls Basketball (EGB) Program has produced a platform for over 200 young ladies to receive athletic scholarships for basketball helping pay for their education. It has always been our goal to teach young women to use basketball as a vehicle for higher education.

We are so excited for our 20th Anniversary. Essence has been apart of Nike Youth Elite Basketball for 10 years, 1 of only 11 Gold Star Nike programs in the country and the only Gold Star Nike program in the State of Florida. Recently, Nike has expanded to 32 teams to create the Nike EYBL for girls, same as the boys, showcasing some of the best female basketball players on 1 platform.

Three seasons ago, all of the teams showed extreme resilience. The Girls Nike EYBL was introduced with great reception across the country.  A very young Essence EYBL team hit the circuit with great challenges. They not only fought hard, learned the game, and played against all odds, they were able to come together, they not only qualified for Nike Nationals at the last seed (#24) but continued to grow as a team made it out of pool play to finish in the Elite Eight of the Silver bracket. 

Over the years, the seasons have been an exciting basketball experience. Essence brought home tons of championships with the final accomplishment for our young ladies receiving scholarships offers from all over the United States. 

2016 ELITE 8 NIKE NATIONAL GOLD
2016 BASKETBALL ON THE BAYOU CHAMPIONS

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