Ballers Bridge Startup Helps Hoops Hopefuls Get Scholarships

"Not every young kid who plays ball can go to Louisville or play for Coach K," says Gerald Cannon, co-founder of the startup Ballers Bridge.

That's exactly why Cannon and his partner, Armand Brown, started Ballers Bridge in the first place: Beyond the elite top 150 or so high school basketball players in the country, it can be hard for ambitious young players to get noticed and earn college scholarships at the Division 1 level or below.

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The Ballers Bridge site functions as a sort of LinkedIn-like network for aspiring hoopers. Instead of hoping to get noticed by scouts at events, players can create profiles by entering their own stats and specialities, uploading video and providing academic information. And it's free both for the players and anyone looking for fresh talent.

Of course, it all has to get backed up on the court eventually, but the digital space can be a good starting point, the site's founders believe.

"We see it as a double-sided market, creating easy ways for both players and coaches to find each other," Cannon says.

Cannon and Brown met while working for the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, and both have deep basketball backgrounds. Brown coached high school ball in Charlotte, while Cannon played at Morehouse College and then professionally for five years overseas.

They've been working on Ballers Bridge full-time for just over a year now, and got their company into the Stanford-affiliated StartX startup accelerator last year. With next to no publicity, they say more than 2,000 players and "several hundred" coaches from different levels have already signed up for the service, while they hope to make a full-scale launch this weekend during the litany of high-profile summer tournaments happening in Las Vegas.

A seed round of funding raised about $200,000 for the company, and the founders plan to raise a larger round this fall. Monetization plans remain hazy, but one possibility includes eventually expanding the site to serve pro teams and players overseas. Advisors include Alan Stein, creator of an immensely popular series of YouTube videos on how young players can get better.

But, however they end up trying to make a living off the site longterm, both Brown and Cannon feel Ballers Bridge fills a niche they're uniquely qualified to fill.

"We see it as not just a traditional recruiting site," Brown says. "It's something that's needed and we feel we can do more for kids than what's currently available. It's made for current players by people who played the game."