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The Nebraska Basketball Development Association, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as the NBDA) was started in 1981 when Dick Hudson and Gary Mouden took the first Nebraska All Star team to play in the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament. Fund raisers were conducted and private funds solicited in order to pay for the trip. The selection process has always been conducted with state-wide tryouts and high school coaches acting as evaluators.
In 1989 Gary Mouden left the state of Nebraska and the NBDA program was taken over by Rick Collura, the Lincoln Northeast basketball coach. Rick was able to secure Valentino's as a corporate sponsor and as a result, the Valentino's Nebraska All Stars were born.
In 1991 Tom Dawson became involved in the NBDA and the Junior All Star team was started. They competed in the Basketball Congress International Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1993 the Junior All Star team competed in the first Nike Las Vegas International Tournament. The Junior team is selected from Nebraska Runza franchises that compete in a tournament at the
Devaney Sports Center each spring. The Juniors presently play in various tournaments in the spring, plus the BCI National Tournament in Colorado Springs. Roger Zajicek is directing the Juniors for the eighth year after serving as assistant for two years.
In 1994 Rick stepped down as NBDA President and Tom Dawson assumed the duties. Also, in 1994 the Nebraska Basketball Coaches Association was formed with Mick Anderson assuming the role of Executive Director. Since 1994, the NBCA, acting as a subsidiary of the NBDA, has enrolled approximately 170 coaches each year while assisting the NBDA with its operations. In 1995 Tom Dawson stepped aside and former Wahoo High School Coach Mick Anderson took over as Director and President - the positions which he has held to the current date. In 1997 the NBDA inaugurated the 16 and and Under All-Star Team (White). In 2004, an 8th Grade team was established. In 2005, the "Junior" team was re-organized into two teams, the "Gold" team which consists of players from Lincoln and the rest of the state, and a "Blue" team which consists of players from the Omaha Metro area. The NBDA is currently sponsoring five all star teams from Nebraska: The Nebraska Bison Reds; the Nebraska Bison Whites; the Nebraska Bison Gold, the Nebraska Bison Blue, and the Nebraska Bison 8th Grade.
In 1997 Bison Productso of Lincoln joined Valentino's as co-sponsors of the Nebraska Senior and Junior All-Star teams. In late summer of 1999 Valentino's ended it's 11-year sponsorship and co-sponsorship of the Nebraska Basketball Development Association's summer All Star basketball teams. In December of 1999 Runza joined partnership with Bison as co-sponsors of the NBDA All-Star teams and participated as a sponsor through the 2003 season. Bison continues as the major corporate sponsor of the NBDA teams.
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