IMG, DME Academy joining new international basketball league ATLAS

IMG Academy has announced its National Boys Basketball team, along with DME Academy, will joining the new ATLAS league on Oct 8.

The Ascenders, long part of the touted Nike EYBL Scholastic League, now join up with other premier talent factories in what will likely be the most competitive league in the country.

The ATLAS league is a first-of-its-kind international league that features 11 teams from four different countries.

“ATLAS has been a long time coming, and we are proud to finally give people a truly global stage to see the future stars of the sport in one place,” ATLAS Commissioner Mike Morreale said in a release. “This league will have the top teams and players from around the world competing for the ultimate title, to be crowned world champions – something that we haven’t been able to do at this level before.”

The ATLAS regular season will have five tournaments weekends leading into the playoffs. The regular season will begin on Nov. 11 at IMG Academy, where all 11 teams will kick off the league’s inaugural season.

The Volts, based in Daytona Beach, will host the Ascenders on Nov. 19 in the second outing for the new league after opening the season against each other in Bradenton.

The Ascenders finished last season 20-9 before head coach Kevin Boyle departed for Spire Academy. New head coach Jack Johnson takes the helm in Bradenton as IMG Academy takes on a new type of schedule.

IMG Academy (Florida)

Spire Academy (Ohio)

Prolific Prep (Florida)

Sunrise Christian (Kansas)

DME Academy (Florida)

Orangeville Prep (Ontario, Canada)

Orange1 Bassano (Italy)

OrangeAcademy Ulm (Germany)

Zalgiris (Lithuania)

Mega Basket (Serbia)

Pallcanestro Varese (Italy)

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: IMG, DME Academy joining new international basketball league ATLAS