By Bob Nuse, Sports Editor
The Victory Sports Pro-Am Basketball League has moved across Route 1, but it is still an ideal place for Amir Bell and many of his Princeton University teammates to hone their skills over the summer.
Bell, who will be a junior at PU, is playing in the Victory Sports league for the second straight summer. The league played at The Hun School last summer, but has moved to the Windsor Athletic Club this summer.
The move means a slightly longer ride to the games for Bell and the other Tigers, but the competitiveness of the league is still top-notch.
“I think the competition has definitely gotten better,” said Bell, whose Tortuga’s Mexican Village team is tied for first place in the league after knocking off previously-undefeated Certa Pro Painters on Sunday. “It’s been a great time so far. It’s a good chance to work on your game and play against good players and play with good players. You try to get better each game and raise your level.”
NCAA rules limit summer league teams in terms of the number of players from the same team on a roster. Bell is joined by Myles Stephens on the Tortuga’s roster, while the rest of the rosters include Noah Bramlage as well as incoming PU freshmen Jose Morales and Richard Aririguzoh
“There are a bunch of us spread out across some different teams,” Bell said. “It’s good for us to get some run. We want to have a big year next year so it is important to be able to keep building. A few of them have jobs on campus or around campus. So they come here for the games. I’ll pick them up and drive them.”
The summer will help get Princeton players ready for what they hope will be a big winter. Princeton returns most of the players from last year’s successful squad as well as adding some key players as well.
“We are really looking forward to it,” Bell said of the upcoming season. “At the end of last year, before spring, what we really talked about was what we needed to accomplish this summer and the work we needed to put in to be sure we were in the right spot next year.
“I think (the Victory league) is great. It keeps you sharp. It keeps you active. It keeps you in shape. It gives you a better workout and helps you work on different parts of your game. If we didn’t have this league, maybe we would try to play pickup or else have to go to New York or Philly for a league which is kind of far.”
Bell, a two-year starter for the Tigers, is one player who is always working to get better and he is hoping for even better things as he enters his junior season.
“I am still working a lot,” Bell said. “I am trying to improve my jump shot and improve my decision making. I just want to be sharper with the ball. I want to improve my defense and get better with moving my feet. I just want to keep getting better.”
Like Bell, the Victory league itself wants to keep getting better. The league has changed locations and added a six-team women’s division this year as well.
“It’s different than last year because of the women’s league that we have added,” said Bryan Caver, the league director. “We’ve expanded. We’ve added some very good players. Jalen Brunson (of Villanova) coming over, him and Donte (DiVincenzo), to have two players from the national champions is huge and says something about the level we are trying to get to.
“We are getting the word out to the coaches and letting them know this is an option for their players. They look at the competition level and know this is something they would like to have their players involved in. Now we just need to get the women on board with it.”
The league would like to see its women’s division grow and keeps looking to add to the men’s league. Victory Sports is also looking to do more basketball training, sports training and conditioning for younger players as it expands.
“We have more we can add,” Caver said. “We’re looking at periscoping the games and live streaming the games. We’d like to create film for some of these guys who are looking o go overseas. So we will record the games and have that available for them.”
