I pieced together some of my work from Peach Jam to try to show, rather than tell, what the revered and historic Peach Jam is and try to do it some justice.
Ever since attending my first Peach Jam in 2014, I have been trying to find a way to effectively communicate exactly what it is. In a perhaps uninteresting way to put it, Peach Jam is the culminating event of Nike's EYBL. 24 of the league's 40 teams qualify for the trip to North Augusta, SC where just about every NCAA coach descends to scout or at least enjoy some very high-level basketball for five days in July.
In a word, Peach Jam is magical. It represents the tireless efforts of about 250 boys who aspire to play basketball at its highest levels. It showcases their coaches and their dedication to the game and their respective teams. 24 teams show up confident and hopeful, but only one leaves as a champion. As I type this out, it feels like I'm describing just about any tournament. But, Peach Jam is anything but ordinary. And rather than butcher the description with even my best verbal efforts, I've collected some sights and sounds from the 2016 Peach Jam and pieced them together in a way that I hope can do a better job of explaining this event than my words can. And if you happened to be in attendance, I hope this video will help you relive some of the magical and ephemeral moments that you may have had the privilege of witnessing first-hand.
Follow me on Instagram (@jonlopez13) to see some of my recent images from Peach Jam.