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Cierra Dillard Chooses IPZ

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BUFFALO, N.Y. + WARREN, N.J., April 9, 2019 – Cierra Dillard, Dawn Staley Award Finalist and AP All-American Honorable Mention, has signed with IPZ, the company announced today.

Standing at five-foot-nine, the Rochester, New York native has made a considerable impact for the University of Buffalo Bulls the past two seasons leading them to back-to-back NCAA Tournaments.

Going into Dillard’s senior year, the guard landed on numerous watch lists: the Wade Trophy (for the best player in women’s basketball), the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award (for the nation’s top shooting guard), the Citizen Naismith Trophy Watch, and the Dawn Staley Award (for the country’s top guard), for which she is one of four finalists.

Dillard did not disappoint. She was the nation’s second leading scorer this past season as she averaged 25.2 points per game, a team-high 5.7 assists per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, and 2.9 steals per game. The Bulls won the 2019 MAC Tournament and Dillard was named MAC Tournament MVP. Dillard closed out her collegiate career in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament against the UCONN Huskies scoring 29 points, dishing seven assists, securing seven rebounds, and capturing three steals. Dillard earned AP All-American Honorable Mention honors and was named First Team All-MAC.

In Dillard’s junior year, she led the Bulls to their first ever Sweet 16 appearance. Ultimately, Buffalo fell to the defending National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks, but Dillard had a strong performance netting 29 points, six steals, six assists, and three rebounds. Dillard posted a 2017-18 stat line of 16.2 points/game, 5.2 assists/game, 4.1 rebounds/game, and 3.0 steals/game. She was named Second Team All-MAC and earned MAC All-Tournament Team honors.

Prior to becoming a Buffalo Bull, Dillard played for the University of Massachusetts Minutewomen. In her sophomore year, Dillard averaged 15.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 2.0 steals in 30.3 minutes per game. As a freshman, she posted 10.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per contest.

Dillard amassed 2,205 career points across her stops with Massachusetts and the Bulls. Dillard finished her Buffalo career with a scoring average of 20.6 points per game over two seasons, a new program record, and currently ranks in the top five on the UB career records list in points (5th – 1,422), free throws made (3rd – 362), free throw percentage (3rd – 80.8%), three point field goals made (4th – 190) and three point field goals attempted (4th – 554).

“I’m excited to start my new journey of playing professional basketball,” said Dillard. “I’m thrilled about how great my amateur years were and I know if I work hard and stay dedicated, I will continue to reap God’s blessings in my professional career as well. I am also happy to be represented by IPZ, as they believe in my dreams both on and off the court. They understand my vision for my career and I’m confident they will do a great job helping and advising me every step of the way. They are passionate about helping their clients in their respective professional fields and want them to be the best they can be; I’m grateful and blessed to work together.”

“Cierra is one of the purest scorers I’ve ever seen,” said Kyrsten Van Natta, IPZ’s WNBA Agent. “Watching her play is like watching poetry in motion. She knows how to get herself open from anywhere on the court and her passes are something else…they’ve been on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 multiple times. She is simply fun to watch. It’s been a pleasure getting to know Cierra as a person off the court, too, and I look forward to working with her as she embarks on her professional career.”

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

Chris Silva Signs with IPZ

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COLUMBIA, S.C. + WARREN, N.J., April 4, 2019 – Chris Silva, two-time First Team All-SEC and All-Defensive Team selection at the University of South Carolina, has signed with IPZ, Silva and the company announced today.

The six-foot-nine forward hails from Libreville, Gabon and his journey to America has been well-chronicled. He played high school basketball in the United States for Roselle Catholic in New Jersey and won the 2013 Tournament of Champions with the Lions.

The South Carolina Gamecocks made a historic NCAA Tournament run to the Final Four in 2017, due, in large part, to Chris Silva. As a sophomore, Silva had a breakout season: he started all 37 games and averaged 10.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, and a team-high 1.4 blocks in 21.0 minutes per game. In the matchup against top-seeded Gonzaga, in South Carolina’s first ever Final Four appearance, Silva scored 13 points and secured 13 rebounds.

Silva continued to improve as an upperclassman and was crowned SEC Co-Defensive Player of the Year for the 2017-18 campaign. Additionally, he was selected to the First Team All-SEC and All-Defensive Team in back-to-back seasons.

He also led the Gamecocks in multiple categories in his junior and senior years with, in his junior year, 14.3 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game, 1.4 blocks per game, and he shot 46.7% from the field. In his senior year, Silva’s team leading figures included averaging 15.2 points/game, 7.6 rebounds/game, 1.9 blocks/game, with a field goal percentage of 50.8%, including 50% from three-point range.

Silva was recently named to the NABC All-District Second Team for his final season as a Gamecock.

“It was clear to all those who watched South Carolina’s games this season that Chris was the emotional and physical leader of the team, and one of the best players in the SEC,” said Robert Zito, Managing Partner of IPZ. “His relationship with his coach and teammates as a student, leader, and teammate was evident.”

Silva is the only player in the history of South Carolina’s program to record at least 700 rebounds and 500 free throws in his career. He earned multiple academic honors as a student-athlete and will graduate this year with a degree in IT.

“I am so appreciative of the opportunity the coaching staffs in high school and college – and all my teammates – gave me and I look forward to the road ahead with the team at IPZ,” said Silva.

“In 34 years of coaching, I don’t think I’ve had a player work as hard as Chris Silva to get better,” said Frank Martin, Head Basketball Coach at South Carolina. “He is an unbelievable young man of tremendous character who is a really really good basketball player.”

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

Luis Da Silva Jr. Talks New Project: Sole Searchers

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From a Backyard in Elizabeth, Chatham Man Shoots for the Stars

By Mark Di Ionno

Luis Da Silva, Jr., says he got his start in a “two by four” backyard in Elizabeth, where he would spend hours with just a basketball.

“It was a rough neighborhood and my mother didn’t want me down at the basketball courts,” Da Silva said.

In those lonely hours of dribbling and inventing basketball tricks, Da Silva learned to command the giant orange orb as if it were at the end of a yo-yo string.

This was the beginning of a journey Da Silva said “kids like him never dreamed of.”

He’s joined the ranks of some of New Jersey’s great character actors, a Frank Vincent or Phil Bosco incarnate. Even a James Gandolfini, before he became Tony Soprano.

The stars he has worked with are household names: John Travolta, Jodie Foster, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Casey Affleck, Adrien Brody, Sam Rockwell, and Brie Larson.

He’s played a doctor in “The Life and Death of John Gotti,” a satanic basketball player in “The Devil Goes Down,” a Brazilian race car driver in “Fast Five” and an MS-13 gang leader in “Triple 9.”

His film and TV credits are continuing to pile up, even though he foregoes a Hollywood address for a place in Chatham. Not exactly where you find an actor, who is inked up on every available square inch of arms and upper body, and who stars in urban dramas where blood flows by the buckets.

It is indeed remarkable that the same man, who can play a violent, drug-dealing, sociopathic gang leader with prison-movie menace has written two books called “A Boy Named Boo” and “Zoe and Toby and the Alphabet Adventures.”

Da Silva is 36 now and the father of a preschool daughter, the inspiration of the two children’s books.

“It’s just how we evolve in life,” he said.

His first act came in 2001, when he was 18 and working in a sneaker store — a passion always connected with basketball. A friend told him about an audition for a Nike commercial.

“I asked for the day off and my boss said, ‘No,’ so I quit,” he said. “My father took me into midtown to this auditorium. I was nervous. There were 3,000 people there; NBA stars, New York playground legends.”

Those nerves built as the auditions wore on. Da Silva, at 5-11, didn’t tower over anybody, and the half-Portuguese, half-Italian kid from Jersey was an unknown.

That lasted only as long as his audition. He killed it. Next was the actual shoot of the Nike commercial in a series called “Freestyle” and Da Silva was one of the stars.

“It was the first Nike commercial where they weren’t featuring shoes or apparel, just the culture of basketball,” he said.

In the commercial, the lighting makes him look a little ghostly and he is doing otherworldly things with a basketball that fall somewhere between magician, gymnast and Harlem Globetrotter, which he eventually became.

But that was after he became the youngest and first non-professional athlete to be given an endorsement contract by Nike. What followed were likenesses of him in NBA video games and other basketball feats that made him one of the street legends he beat out for the commercial.

“Basketball is a culture, it’s a big fraternity,” he said. His nickname “Trikz” was synonymous with his skills and he began to create his own legend.

“Back when I was playing in high school (St. Patrick’s and Linden High), let’s just say the coaches didn’t appreciate the kind of flashy ball handling,” he said. “But we influenced the next generation of players.”

That first success in front of the camera and subsequent offers for “Trikz” Da Silva to be the animated star of basketball video games and led him to his acting career.

His first stint was as “an angry ex-boyfriend” in “America’s Most Wanted” in 2002. He would return to the popular series in various episodes over the next decade. He also had roles in the critically acclaimed “Breaking Bad,” “Treme” and “Law & Order: Criminal Intent.”

It’s a career that is still building. He will be in four movies that will be released in 2019.

But he also has an idea that brings him back to his very beginnings of basketball and sneakers.

He has filmed a season’s worth of a show called “Sole Searchers” where Da Silva travels the country finding people in the culture of collecting, designing and constructing basketball shoes. There are eight episodes from New York to Los Angeles, where Da Silva seeks out different characters who view sneakers as art.

“I see it as the ‘Parts Unknown’ of the sneaker culture and hip-hop fashion,” said Da Silva, referring to the exotic food travels of the late Anthony Bourdain.

“There’s a real fraternity out there of people where their Jordans and a fresh cut are their identity,” he said. “We explore that world.”

Of course, one of the episodes centers on his hometown and barber Pedro Antunes of Klippers, known as the “Wolf of Broad Street.”

“He’s known all over the country for his cuts. Rap stars, other celebrities fly him in for a cut,” said Da Silva, who is represented by IPZ, a sports and entertainment management firm in Warren.

Another Elizabeth segment revolves around a man named Freddy, who was a collector of “Michael Jordan 9s,” Da Silva said. “He had hundreds of pairs, and then his house burned down.

“His wife then secretly starts to collect them and we see her surprise him with 20 pairs to restart his collection.”

Da Silva said he had the backing of Affleck “who understands the culture” and hopes to land a TV deal soon.

The show is just another step in Da Silva’s self-described “amazing journey.”

“Where I grew up, expectations weren’t that high,” he said. “If you graduated high school, and stayed out of trouble and got a job you were considered a success. College was out of the question. So to end up to be able to do what I do is such a blessing, it is such as blessing.”

View the story on Tapinto.

espnW: Lexie Brown Cooks Up Some Baked Ziti for National Pasta Day

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What athletes eat: WNBA player Lexie Brown’s baked ziti family recipe

By Natalie Gingerich Mackenzie

Lexie Brown helped to lead the University of Maryland to two Final Four berths before transferring to Duke, where she finished out her college career. This year, Brown was drafted by the Connecticut Sun — and after recently finishing up her rookie season, she’s ready for some time off, and a little more time to splurge with meals, too.

Brown shared an old family recipe she made on a recent trip to catch up with some former teammates. But she’s clear that she’s far from a pro in the kitchen. “If anyone knows me they know that cooking isn’t my strong suit. When I master something, it’s kind of a big deal,” she says. “Baked ziti is definitely a dish I have mastered, so I was excited to make it for them. The recipe is super easy and doesn’t take much time at all.”

Day and time: Dinner on a visit to see some old teammates at Duke

Place: Durham, North Carolina

What I’m eating: Baked ziti

Why I’m eating it: Baked ziti is one of my absolute favorite meals ever. Any time my mom asked me what I wanted for dinner I always asked for it. No matter what. I wouldn’t recommend a plate of baked ziti before a big game or tough workout, but it’s great for right after! I made this on a visit to some old teammates. They had definitely had a long, hard week of workouts so I wanted to treat them!

Whose recipe: My mom’s (and my grandma’s before that)

The recipe:

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground beef
2 14.5-ounce cans of tomato or marinara sauce
1 28-ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 pounds mozzarella cheese, grated
1 pound ziti
One 15-ounce tub of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons of fresh chopped parsley

Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until starting to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook until browned.

Drain off almost all of the fat, leaving a bit behind for flavor and moisture. Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, Italian seasoning and some salt and pepper. Stir, bring to a simmer and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove 3 to 4 cups of the cooked sauce to a bowl to cool down.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add some salt. Cook the ziti until not quite al dente.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a bowl, mix 2 cups of the grated mozzarella, the ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, eggs and some salt and pepper. Stir together just a couple of times (do not mix completely).

Drain the pasta and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking and cool it down. Pour it into the bowl with the cheese mixture and toss to slightly combine (there should still be large lumps). Add the cooled reserved meat sauce and toss to combine.

Add half the coated pasta to a large casserole dish or lasagna dish. Spoon half of the remaining sauce over the top, then top with half the remaining mozzarella. Repeat with another layer of the coated pasta and the remaining sauce and mozzarella.

Bake until bubbling, about 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before sprinkling with chopped parsley to serve.

View the story on espnW.

Lexie Brown Joins the IPZ Family

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WNBA First Round Draft Pick Signs with IPZ

WARREN, NJ, July 25, 2018 – Lexie Brown, 2018 WNBA First Round Draft pick, has signed with IPZ, the company announced today.

Brown is a 5-foot-9 point guard who was a McDonald’s and WBCA All-American coming out of high school. She began her collegiate career at the University of Maryland and led the Terrapins to the NCAA Final Four as a freshman in the 2013-14 season and again as a sophomore the following season. In the 2014-15 season, Brown was named to the Associated Press (AP) All-America Third Team.

The point guard decided to transfer to Duke, competed as a Blue Devil in the 2016-17 season, and was named a co-captain. Her 18.3 points per game is the highest for a first-year player in the school’s history. Brown ranked third in the nation in free throw shooting, converting 92.8% of her attempts, and went on a streak of hitting 56 consecutive free throws (most in Duke and ACC history). In addition to being named to the AP All-America Third Team for the second time in her college career (the only player in NCAA history to accomplish this at two different schools), she was also a CoSIDA All-American and the winner of the Kay Yow Award as the ACC women’s basketball scholar-athlete of the year.

As a senior, Brown remained a co-captain and captured additional accolades: AP and espnW All-American, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, All-ACC First Team, Senior CLASS Award finalist, Kay Yow Award winner, preseason ACC Player of the Year, and numerous more. Brown averaged 19.4 ppg and 3.7 spg (led ACC). She was also the only active NCAA player to notch 2,000 points, 500 assists, 250 three-pointers, and 300 steals.

Following her storied college career, Brown participated in the 2018 State Farm College 3-Point Competition. A few weeks later, on April 12, the three-time All-American was selected with the ninth overall pick in the WNBA Draft by the Connecticut Sun.

Brown has appeared in 16 games for the Sun so far this season and will be playing overseas for CMB Cargo Gyor, a Hungarian EuroCup team, shortly after the conclusion of the WNBA season.

“I’m very excited to work with IPZ,” said Brown. “They are everything and more that I wanted in representation. They appreciate what I bring to the table on and off the court and understand the bigger picture. I am looking forward to bringing all my ideas and endeavors to life.”

“Lexie is truly one of a kind,” said IPZ’s WNBA Agent Kyrsten Van Natta. “Not only is she an outstanding basketball player, but she excels in many areas off the court as well. She earned her MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke – one of the best business schools in the country – and was a standout on the court for the Blue Devils simultaneously. There’s no question in my mind that Lexie will have an amazing career in and after basketball. We, at IPZ, are thrilled to be with her on her journey.”

New Zealand Breakers’ New Marketing Effort Tips Off

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IPZ and Zito Partners to Assist

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND and WARREN, NJ, June 5, 2018 – The New Zealand Breakers, a professional basketball team that competes in the National Basketball League (NBL), Australia’s top-league, has teamed up with IPZ and Zito Partners (ZP) to assist in its branding and marketing efforts.

The New Zealand Breakers organization was founded in 2003 and has made seven NBL playoff appearances, winning four NBL Championships (2011, 2012, 2013, 2015) in the club’s 15 seasons of existence. With its home in Auckland, the Breakers are the only non-Australian team competing in the NBL.

According to a 2016-17 study by Nielsen Sports Research, the Breakers have more than 107,000 fans with 90% being likely to attend a game.

In February 2018, former NBA player Matt Walsh and his business partners Adam Goodman, Romie Chaudhari, Dan Katz, and NBA All-Star Shawn Marion became the Breakers’ majority stakeholders.

“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership,” said NZ Breakers’ Matt Walsh. “IPZ and Zito Partners have worked with top brands and businesses across all industries and we look forward to working closely to take the Breakers to the next level.”

“Matt and his young ownership group are bringing NBA excitement to the NBL,” said IPZ and Zito Partners’ founder Robert Zito. “This is a dynamic group of professionals who will energize Auckland, the NBL and its sponsors and fans. We’re thrilled to be part of the team.”

About New Zealand Breakers: The New Zealand Breakers are an Auckland, New Zealand-based professional basketball team that competes in the Australian National Basketball League. For more information, visit www.nzbreakers.basketball.

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

About Zito Partners: Zito Partners builds, energizes and defends brands. A boutique firm representing a select group of clients from a range of industries, Zito Partners believes in a “ready, aim, fire” approach – understand the client…develop the appropriate strategy against the key target constituencies…and execute against the plan. And through its strategic alliance with Ketchum, Ketchum Zito Financial, Zito Partners is assisting additional clients with their financial communications needs. For more information, visit www.zitopartners.com.

NJ Biz Picks Up The Pearl

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By Howard Burns

Basketball Hall of Famer and former New York Knicks star Earl “The Pearl” Monroe has signed for representation with IPZ, the management, representation and consulting company aligned with Warren-based public relations and marketing communications Zito Partners, the company announced.

The 1968 NBA Rookie of the Year and four-time All-Star has spent more than 30 years in the entertainment industry, with projects ranging from off-Broadway musicals to running his own record and publishing company. He also won the Peabody Award for producing the critically acclaimed documentary “Black Magic.” Monroe also does TV and radio commentary for the Knicks.

Additionally, Monroe is a motivational speaker and has written two books: “Earl the Pearl, My Story,” published in 2013, and “Getting Back in the Game,” a self-help book that is soon to be published.

Monroe has been a spokesperson for companies including Emblem Health, Remy Martin, American Heart Association, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and most recently, Merck, where he led an award-winning campaign called “Diabetes Restaurant Month.”

“Class is the word that describes Earl,” said IPZ Managing Partner Robert Zito in a statement. “From his days on the court, to his family life, to helping his community and representing brands, ‘The Pearl’ is the class of class when it comes to ambassadors representing brands.”

View on NJ Biz.

FIVE BASKETBALL PLAYERS CHOOSE IPZ

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Collegiate Standouts to be Represented by IPZ

WARREN, NJ, April 26, 2018 – Five basketball players – Avry Holmes (Santa Cruz Warriors), Donte Clark (Texas Southern University), Jonathan Mulmore (Georgetown University), Keith Carter (Valparaiso University), and J’Kyra Brown (University of Virginia) – have signed with IPZ.

Avry Holmes completed his rookie campaign with the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G-League in late March. The 6’2 point guard and Clemson University product saw action in 43 games with the Warriors. Holmes averaged 19.6 minutes, 6.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game and shot 38.9% from beyond the three-point line.

Watch Holmes’ highlights from the 2017-18 season here.

Donte Clark led the Texas Southern Tigers to their first ever NCAA Tournament win this past season. In the First Four, Clark scored 18 points and secured 7 rebounds as the Tigers defeated NC Central. Throughout his collegiate career, the 6’4 Clark has been utilized as a swingman, and in the 2017-18 season, he averaged 18.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest.

Watch Clark’s highlights from the 2017-18 season here.

Jonathan Mulmore was a staple in Georgetown’s starting lineup, under Patrick Ewing’s leadership, during his senior year. Mulmore played the point for the Hoyas and led the team in assists. He stands at 6’4 and averaged 5.6 ppg, 3.4 apg, 2.1 rpg, and connected on 46.9% of his three-point field goal attempts. The Hoya participated in the 2018 OAL Invitational and was named the MVP.

Keith Carter played collegiately at Valparaiso University and led the Crusaders in assists per game as both a junior (3.7) and a senior. The 6’0 point guard and posted a stat line of 10.3 ppg, 4.6 apg, 3.3 rpg, and shot 39.4% from beyond the arc in his senior season. Carter was selected to the 2018 All-OAL Invitational Team.

Watch Carter’s highlights here.

J’Kyra Brown finished out her college career at Virginia this past season and appeared in all 33 games. The 5’11 guard averaged 9.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game as a senior. Brown finished with 131 made three-pointers in her career as a Hokie, this tied her with Dawn Staley for 10th most in UVA history.

Watch Brown’s 2017-18 season highlights here.

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

About Zito Partners: Zito Partners builds, energizes and defends brands. A boutique firm representing a select group of clients from a range of industries, Zito Partners believes in a “ready, aim, fire” approach – understand the client…develop the appropriate strategy against the key target constituencies…and execute against the plan. And through its strategic alliance with Ketchum, Ketchum Zito Financial, Zito Partners is assisting additional clients with their financial communications needs. For more information, visit www.zitopartners.com.

EARL MONROE JOINS IPZ

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NBA Legend Signs with IPZ for Representation

WARREN, NJ, April 24, 2018 – Earl “The Pearl” Monroe, Hall of Fame basketball player, has signed with IPZ, the company announced today.

The 1968 NBA Rookie of the Year, four-time NBA All-Star (1969, 1971, 1975, 1977), and 1973 NBA World Champion began his basketball legacy as a collegiate senior when he led Winston-Salem State College to a National Championship in 1967 while averaging 41.7 points per game. That same year, Monroe was selected second overall in the NBA Draft by the Baltimore Bullets.

“The Pearl” enjoyed a 13-year career in the NBA and played with the Bullets from 1967-1971 until he was traded to the New York Knickerbockers. Monroe joined fellow Hall of Famer Walt Frazier and the pair was named the “Rolls Royce Backcourt.” Together, Monroe and Frazier led the Knicks to victory in the 1973 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Philly native retired from the NBA in a Knicks uniform in 1980. In 1989, Monroe was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Eight years later, Monroe was voted one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.

Outside of basketball, Monroe has spent more than 30 years in the entertainment industry; projects have included producing off-broadway musicals to running his own record and publishing company. He also won the Peabody Award for producing the critically-acclaimed documentary Black Magic, which helped launch ESPN’s famed series 30 for 30. Monroe also does TV and radio commentary for the Knicks.

Additionally, Monroe is also a motivational speaker and has written two books, Earl the Pearl, My Story was published in 2013 and Getting Back in the Game is a self-help book that is soon to be published. He holds two honorary Doctorate Degrees, one from Manhattanville College and the other from his alma mater, Winston-Salem.

Monroe has been a spokesperson for companies such as Emblem Health, Remy Martin, American Heart Association, Boehringer-Ingelheim, and most recently, Merck, where he led an award-winning campaign called “Diabetes Restaurant Month.” “The Pearl” has traveled around the country to deliver the message, to people with type 2 diabetes, of maintaining a healthy diet when eating out.

“Since retiring from the game, it has been a pleasure to assist brands I feel strongly about,” said Monroe.  “And now, developing concepts for brands, while keeping my hand in the music and film industries, has been a great “Overtime” opportunity I cherish.”

“Class is the word that describes Earl,” said IPZ Managing Partner Robert Zito. “From his days on the court…to his family life…to helping his community…and representing brands, “The Pearl” is the class of class when it comes to ambassadors representing brands.”

About IPZ: IPZ represents clients in sports, media, and entertainment, providing management, contract negotiations, consulting, public relations and marketing communications support. The company, an alliance with Zito Partners, is built on the integrity of its professionals, maintains a family focus, and provides whole life solutions for its clients. For more information, visit www.ipzusa.com.

About Zito Partners: Zito Partners builds, energizes and defends brands. A boutique firm representing a select group of clients from a range of industries, Zito Partners believes in a “ready, aim, fire” approach – understand the client…develop the appropriate strategy against the key target constituencies…and execute against the plan. And through its strategic alliance with Ketchum, Ketchum Zito Financial, Zito Partners is assisting additional clients with their financial communications needs. For more information, visit www.zitopartners.com.

Basketball Insiders: Darius Adams, Around the World in Seven Years

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CBA superstar Darius Adams talks to Basketball Insiders about dominating in China, playing with Andray Blatche and trying to prove himself.

By Ben Nadeau

Darius Adams is just like every other professional basketball player.

Every year, he works hard, tries to improve and be the best teammate possible. One day, Adams would like to earn his first-ever NBA contract, but after seven long years, he’s always fallen just short. Adams is just like you and me too — forever chasing his dreams even when the outlook is at its bleakest. But Adams’ worldwide journey has taken him from Indianapolis to China and nearly everywhere in between.

Now with a chunk of money saved up, Adams is ready to bet on himself and finally make this at-home ambition come true. Ahead lies a summer of grueling workouts and undetermined futures, but eventually, you learn to stop betting against Adams. From Los Prados to Laboral Kutxa Baskonia, Adams has made a habit of proving the naysayers wrong. As if dropping 38 points per game in China wasn’t difficult enough — Adams still must undergo his toughest challenge yet: Changing the mind of an NBA front office.

But before you can know where Adams is going, it’s just as important to understand where he’s been.

*****

Darius Adams got a late start to basketball. He never played AAU, the so-called holy grail for teenage prospects, and told me that he learned the game by watching streetball in Decatur, Illinois. So by the time he fell in love with basketball, Adams was forced to take alternate routes to the top. He spent two years in the NJCAA with Lincoln College, a small, private liberal arts school approximately 33 miles away from home. During that second season, Adams averaged 18.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.2 steals per game on 44 percent shooting from the floor — but it wasn’t enough to make the jump to a Division-I school.

After transferring to the University of Indianapolis, Adams continued to improve in each successive campaign. As a senior, he topped out with a 41-point effort against Illinois at Springfield and tallied 23.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Nevertheless, Adams still went undrafted in 2011, officially setting off a globe-spanning adventure that would make Phileas Fogg blush.

From China to Ukraine, Adams has played in seven different countries in as many years, also adding stops in Venezuela, Dominican Republic, France, Germany and Spain along the way. Adams may have turned 29 years-old this week, but he’s never considered giving up his dreams of playing in the NBA.

“That’s the goal, that’s always been my motivation,” Adams told Basketball Insiders. “I just played my hardest and kept progressing, that was my thing — I didn’t want to be content with: ‘OK, you’re playing pro.’ I want to play at the highest level, I feel like I have the talent to play at the highest level.

“At the end of the day, I just need that opportunity.”

Opportunity is a word that has come to define Adams in many ways.

Beyond that, it’s something that has constantly eluded him, even as he began winning in bigger and better leagues. Despite all his international successes, including a EuroLeague Final Four appearance and a CBA championship, Adams has been unable to turn that into an NBA contract. As far as he can tell, it’s a matter of both perception and timing.

The perception of overseas athletes, particularly those that compete in China, has always been a hot-button issue. For as long as Americans have played in the CBA, there’s an unspoken expectation that they should dominate. Generalizations abound, if you’re from the United States and not dominating in China, there’s a low chance of earning an NBA deal. But sometimes, even topping the CBA charts still isn’t enough. This season, Adams averaged a league-leading 38.7 points and added 8.4 assists (2nd-best), 6.8 rebounds and 2.5 steals (3rd-best) per contest for good measure. On one hand, there’s the stat-padding, empty type of scoring and then there’s this: Absolute annihilation.

But those misconceptions about Chinese basketball often remain an unforgiving roadblock for many. Heck, even Adams had them before he signed with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers two years ago.

“It’s different, my perception was that there would be a lot of short guys that couldn’t play,” Adams said. “Actually, I was probably one of the shortest guys out there, as far as basketball players, and they got skills. They don’t get tired and they’re going to guard you tough, maybe they’re not as skilled as [Americans] are — but they got heart.

“I thought it was going to be easy, but they impressed me.”

And although Adams experienced his fallacies in real-time, he’s still waiting for the rest of the NBA to catch up.

Of course, Adams wasn’t the only American to tear up the CBA this season. Three other Americans, Brandon Jennings, Jonathan Gibson and MarShon Brooks, earned NBA deals this month. That trio of players all put up gaudy statistical lines as well, but none nearly as high as Adams’. Then there’s the case of Stephon Marbury, a former NBA All-Star that moved to China back in 2010, transforming his fringe-status career into a rejuvenated international icon. Marbury’s off-the-court philanthropy and three CBA championships speak for themselves, but Adams is often left wondering why it can’t work the other way around.

“You start questioning yourself, like: ‘What’s the reason why you’re not getting this opportunity?’” Adams told Basketball Insiders. “Some of the teams [I’ve worked out for] come back and say, ‘Well, he hasn’t had NBA experience.’ But when am I going to get my NBA experience if I never get my chance?”

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The other frustrating factor for players like Adams to navigate is timing — and as he put it, timing is everything.

To his credit, Adams has never shied away from a challenge or attempted to outmaneuver anybody on this long-winding journey. When he goes to workouts, Adams tells franchises that he’d be more than happy to go against their top guys — however, whenever, or whatever it takes. He’s impressed during private workouts before, but his most recent chance came just as Adams was getting ready to fly back to China for another season. Timing, again, had failed him.

Between workouts too late in the offseason or contracts that needed to be honored, the timing just hasn’t quite worked out for Adams. And it’s not for a lack of trying either — Adams has played two years of summer league (one with the Nets, one with the Mavericks), initially tried his hand at the D-League in 2011 and spends every offseason carefully deciding where to go next.

But when he made the all-important choice to jump from Spain to China in 2016, it wasn’t without a plan.

“Honestly, when I left Spain, I was nervous to go to China because the fans were like, ‘You’re gonna hurt your career, basketball is not as good [there] as it is in Europe,’” Adams said. “So I had that in the back in my mind. Me and my agent had a plan that I’d go to China — the CBA season is way shorter than the European leagues — and then I’d come back in six, seven months and hopefully get on a roster before the end of the season.”

It’s difficult to measure the merits of a big-time scorer overseas, particularly so in China, but Adams has now undoubtedly smashed through his ceiling. For a kid that once started out at a tiny college in Illinois, Adams followed up his Finals MVP-winning campaign in 2016-17 by nearly averaging a 40-point double-double this year. And although he challenged himself to diversify his game between those back-to-back Chinese seasons, he never once thought he would do… well, that.

“I didn’t go into the season wanting to be the leading scorer, I just wanted to win games and another championship,” Adams said. “We had a lot of adversity this season because my teammate, Andray Blatche, got injured early and the offensive role changed to me. Going against double-teams, triple-teams, that was the challenging part, because I knew my team needed me. Dealing with the adversity, it was challenging — but if you put me up to the test, I’m always going to prove myself.”

Although Andray Blatche isn’t a name heard often these days, he’s certainly well-remembered for his time in the NBA. Over his nine-year career, Blatche played for the Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets before heading overseas to China in 2014. While he, too, was part of the winning squad that brought the Flying Tigers their first-ever championship in 2017, Adams has also used the 6-foot-11 power forward like a soundboard. Frequently peppering him with questions about life in the NBA, Adams has nothing but adoration for Blatche, whom he now considers a close friend.

“I asked him what it was like to play with DWill, KG, how were the locker rooms, what were the practices like — but he also helped me see different things on the court,” Adams told Basketball Insiders. “Or, like, OK, I might be frustrated and in a bad place, he’d be like, ‘OK, D, you gotta let it go, you’re the leader of the team’ and things like that. Whenever I was down, he was there — he helped me out with being in China, adjusting to the food, where to go, he treated me like a little brother, actually.”

In order to make that second season in China count, Adams decided to focus on his untapped playmaking side, increasing his assist tally from 5.9 to that aforementioned 8.4 per game. For a while, he even thought that might’ve been why he hadn’t earned a 10-day contract yet, so into the grinder it went. Additionally, Adams dared himself to become a locker room leader, the kind of vocal, lead-by-example veteran that any franchise would value.

If the jaw-dropping statistics weren’t going to pave his path to the NBA, Adams was convinced he could find another way to grab front office attention.

“Right now, I’m already developed and can help [teams] win,” Adams said. “I haven’t reached my peak, I can still learn new things and keep progressing the same way. I’m already starting higher in the learning curve [than most young players] — but I’m also a good leader. I can be a scorer, I can be a defensive guy, I got all those qualities — I’m not just a one-dimensional player, I can help.”

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But as his season drew to a close in March (the sixth-seeded Flying Tigers were knocked out in the quarterfinals) Adams was, once again, without an NBA contract. In what Adams is now deeming one of the most important summers of his life, he’s going all-in on himself. Previously, Adams couldn’t ignore those lucrative million-dollar-plus deals, he had a family to look out for, after all. To him, it was a risk that he couldn’t take until this very moment. Sure, he could hit the G-League again — although he tried out for two teams, the Iowa Energy and Canton Charge, after going undrafted and was not selected — but there’s little money in that method.

Granted, Adams has always been motivated and hungry, but he’s got an extra push this time around.

“I’m going to all these different countries, I’m playing in their country — so why can’t play in my country?” Adams told Basketball Insiders. “If I’m one of the top players, how come I can’t get an opportunity in my country? Staying home, so my family can see me. My family has never seen me play overseas, only videos. You see all these other stories, like the guy that just played for the Lakers [Andre Ingram] — it took him ten years! It shows you to just never give up — all you need is an opportunity.

“I always tell my mom, my family, my kids that this year is gonna be the year. I’m gonna get my opportunity and I’mma be playing at home — daddy’s gonna be playing at home.”

Adams has always been a late bloomer — he’s forever the product of a once-raw teenager with no AAU experience. He’ll always be the barely 6-foot point guard that jumped into the NCJAA, quickly validated himself and then excelled in Division-II as well. But if you’re looking for a reason to disparage Adams’ hopes and dreams, you need not look further than this. How could somebody with those glaring blemishes ever play at the NBA level and against the best the sport has to offer?

Lest you forget, however, Adams is also the guy that will never stop fighting or believing in himself. Adams is the one that averaged 18 points in Ukraine and Germany and didn’t settle. The higher he climbed, the better he got. When he aced the test in France, he went to Spain and then got all of this. When Adams needed to adapt and change his game depending on the surrounding roster or culture — he did that too. But most importantly, Adams is tired of playing from behind and tired of missing his young family’s most key moments.

And now, with a whole offseason ahead of him, Adams is ready to do something about it once and for all.

“I’m staying prepared for whenever they have an opportunity, I’m betting on myself this whole summer and really taking a chance,” Adams said. “This year, I have enough saved up to really bet on myself. So, the goal is to just go to these workouts, get in front of these guys and show ‘em what I can do.

“That’s all I’ve ever needed, I don’t want anybody to just hand over a contract — I want to prove myself. I feel like I can make an impact — if you don’t think so, put me up against your guys and I’ll prove it.”

 View the article at Basketball Insiders.