Empire State Takeover aims to provide a unique platform for girls’ basketball in upstate NY & the surrounding Northeast region. Its goals are centered around a high level of competition, ample & meaningful exposure to college coaches without bias at any level, comprehensive media coverage of the individuals, HS teams, AAU teams, and everyone else involved in the girls’/women’s basketball world from an organization whose focus & existence revolve around the game, and overall support of the game.

EST has grown from a five-team summer league & showcase with 24 participants in 2015 to an all-encompassing endeavor in its present form. HS events focused on development through competition and college/media exposure held in New York & Pennsylvania, middle school combine-style events with a focus of allowing up & comers to ‘see where they’re at’ at an early stage and learn & grow, a renowned summer league (and its new incarnation, the Summer Run series) that has turned into an ‘iron sharpens iron’ proving ground for the region’s finest, media coverage that includes content through words, photos, and videos along with player/team evaluations, assistance in the girls’ basketball based endeavors of other organizations including state rankings & all-state teams, and much more cover the scope of what EST is at the current time.

EST has grown exponentially since its inception. In its first year, 12 event participants from the rising senior class (Class of 2016) went on to play college basketball. That number more than doubled in each of the following two graduation classes, and at this time, a typical graduating class will see 75+ EST event participants moving on to play at the collegiate level, with approximately 50% doing so on athletic scholarship (D1 or D2). A complete list of ‘EST alumni’ can be viewed using the appropriate tab of the menu bar above.

I will always gladly take questions or comments, whether it’s about the media coverage, events, or anything else in the basketball world. Use the ‘Contact’ tab to leave a message at any time. Otherwise, I’m sure I’ll see you in the gym sooner rather than later. Feel free to stop by & say hi to the big guy on the baseline with a camera in hand!

Jeff Mlinar (Founder, Empire State Takeover)