THE EVOLUTION

Founded in 2010, The Northern Kings have established themselves as one of the premier youth basketball organizations in Canada and throughout North America. Over 200 of our graduates have gone on to play basketball at the post-secondary level.

Our executive director & founder, Vidal Massiah, was a Toronto city all-star at Eastern Commerce, played NCAA Division 1 basketball at St. Bonaventure, was a former Captain of the Canadian Senior Men’s National team, and played professional basketball overseas for several years. Vidal owns and operates The Hoop Factory, a high-level skill development camp in Toronto. Vidal has developed relationships with hundreds of NCAA coaches and leverages those contacts to ensure our players get the maximum level of exposure.

We play a high-level schedule, attending NCAA-approved showcase events during all NCAA live evaluation periods. We are proud members of the Under Armour Rise & Future Circuits, which provides high-level exposure and competition for our student-athletes. In 2020, Our teams traveled to Kansas City, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Maryland, and New Jersey.

Our Class of 2020 had a historic summer, joining a small group of Canadian AAU teams to win a major shoe circuit championship, taking home the Under Armour Rise Circuit Championship after going 8-0 in Atlanta in July. More importantly, six players from our Class of 2020 received full Division 1 NCAA Scholarships, with another player earning a full D2 Scholarship and 3 others going on to play at the Canadian University level. From our class of 2018, 8 players received full Division 1 NCAA scholarships at schools including Oregon State, Yale, Richmond, and Drexel, among others. Additionally, five players went on to receive scholarships to continue their education at the USports level. We will work hard to ensure that every member of our graduating class will be placed in a post-secondary situation where they can thrive academically and athletically.

Academics are a vital part of our program and we make an effort to work with each one of our players to make sure that they are on the right track academically. We work with many of our players to help place them in elite-level basketball prep schools with strong academic programs. We have sent players to prestigious prep schools such as Montverde, New Hampton, Vermont, Academy, Cushing Academy, Worcester Academy, First Love Christian, Kiski Prep, St. Thomas More, Bridgton Academy and many others. 

Our program is fortunate to be the primary beneficiary of the Drive For Dreams Foundation. DFD is a non-profit foundation aimed at helping student-athletes chase their academic and athletic dreams. Through this foundation, we are able to significantly subsidize travel costs and registration fees for several athletes who need this support. DFD also offers academic tutoring, NCAA Eligibility guidance, SAT tutoring, and any other off-court needs a student-athlete requires.

More information can be found at https://drivefordreamsfoundation.com/

Our coaching staff consists of former players with playing experience at the highest levels, with several having NCAA D1, CIS, and Canadian National team playing experience. Our coaches put our players in a position to succeed and provide honest, direct, and fair feedback to help them improve as players and people. They are players’ coaches who always put the player's interests at the top of the list because, as former elite players, they understand how they want to be treated as a player. They understand that development is really about the whole person as a player on the court, as a student in the classroom and as a role model in their community. Often, our players get the most out of their conversations with our coaches and the advice they give them at a personal level.

As mentioned, we have had great success in helping our players get to the next level. 2015 was very successful, with a record number of 12 players (7 Division 1 Signees) receiving full scholarships to play at US schools. Most importantly, all 16 players in our graduating class moved on to post-secondary schools. 2016 also saw 6 players receive full scholarships, while all 12 of our players moved on to post-secondary education. 2017 was another great year, with 4 D1 Signees and all 10 players heading to post-secondary schools. 2018 was our best year yet, with 8 players receiving full Division 1 Scholarships with all 13 moving on to the next level. 2019 saw all 9 graduating class members move on to play at the next level. 2020 was a tremendous year, with 7 players receiving full NCAA Scholarships and five others moving on to play at the next level.

We offer players a very effective combination of exposure and skill development, and we have established ourselves as a reputable program amongst US college coaches and scouts. We believe that our program will give the student-athlete a great opportunity to grow as a basketball player and reach the highest levels they can achieve athletically and personally.

OUR MISSION

King Nation basketball strives to create life-long opportunities for youth through basketball. We do so through a combination of:

• Recruiting boys and girls, typically ages 8 to 18 from the Greater Toronto Area, with strong basketball abilities and academic drive

• Adding each player to one of our 30 club teams under the Northern Kings, NK Academy and C.A.L.I banners

• Providing superior training and coaching throughout the year, often through our affiliation with the Hoop Factory

• Participating in the top basketball tournaments in North America, generating exposure to coaches from top universities, colleges and prep schools

• Creating access to willing and able role models who guide the players through broader life decisions, of ten well after they leave the program

• Investing in the players as people by instilling strong principles and work ethic and ensuring they are ready for life post-basketball

Northern Kings Alumni