How Augusta became the 30-year home of Nike EYBL Peach Jam basketball

Clint Bryant couldn’t help but feel nostalgic while watching the 2026 NBA Finals. 

Amongst the different positional matchups that took place, the point guard battle between the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson and the San Antonio Spurs De’Aaron Fox caught the former Augusta University athletic director and men’s basketball coach’s eye.

Just 12 years earlier, those two NBA all-stars were just high schoolers looking to make a name for themselves as they put on a show against one another at the 2014 Nike EYBL Peach Jam. Bryant remembers watching that game, as he did many others during the 30-year history of the tournament. He was the man that brought Peach Jam to Augusta.

“We thought it was a good idea conceptually,” Bryant said of the event. “I don’t know if anybody knew, including Nike, that it would become the longest lasting event of its time, and every major shoe company across the country has been trying to model and duplicate it since that time.”

The Nike EYBL Peach Jam tournament has become a staple of summer basketball at the high school level since its inaugural session back in 1996. Dozens of basketball players who have suited up to play at Peach Jam would end up going pro. Even more would go onto play collegiately because of the scholarship offers they’d receive during the tournament. And between the college coaches, agents and fans, there’s never an empty seat in the house.

But before it became the marquee high school event that it is today, it was just an idea that was still being formed. It was pitched to Bryant in 1995 by then-Georgetown men’s basketball assistant coach Eddie Meyers, who was helping Nike plan a summer travel tournament for the youth.

The biggest hurdle was finding a location for the event. In addition to having the requisite gym space for multiple basketball games to take place at once, the location also had to have golf courses available for the coaches to play during their downtime. Initially Nike was considering Myrtle Beach or Las Vegas, but finding hotels and venues during the summer time at those vacation destinations would have been nightmarish.

Bryant then proposed Augusta. In addition to having some of the top golf courses in the country, there were also multiple schools with gyms within a mile radius of Augusta University. Nike liked the idea and had Meyers come down to check out the venues.

Once in Augusta, the tour of the various sites left something to be desired for the scale of the event that Nike was looking for. But before Meyers was set to leave, Bryant wanted to show him one more place. Just across the Savannah River in North Augusta was a new facility called the Riverview Park Activities Center. Bryant hadn’t been there either, but he was hopeful this place would be the one to change Meyers and Nike’s minds.

“We weren’t in there five minutes, and we said this is the place,” Bryant said.

The home of the event was solidified, but there wasn’t a definitive name for it as of yet. Bryant suggested the name having to do with peaches because the fruit is native to both Georgia and South Carolina. While the first-ever tournament was called the Peach Basket Classic, the second edition, and every year thereforth, it was called the Peach Jam.

Over 500 college coaches showed up to the first tournament, according to Bryant. Teams from all over the country, and even one from Europe, made their way to North Augusta to play at Peach Jam. Future NBA players such as Elton Brand, Baron Davis and Dirk Nowitzki all participated in the inaugural session.

Will Avery, a former NBA lottery pick and Augusta native, also played in the event. The standout from Westside High School had been to many camps and tournaments as the top point guard prospect in the country at the time. But being able to play in a high-level competition at home brought a different dynamic with it.

“I think [it was] maybe the first time my grandmother ever saw me play a travel basketball game because there wasn’t many tournaments in Augusta, period,” Avery said. 

Avery took advantage of the opportunity to play in front of family and friends, dropping 39 points against the Tennessee Travelers in his first game of the tournament. He’d go on to lead Peach Jam in scoring.

After seeing how massive a turnout Peach Jam had, Avery feared that it would only be a matter of time before Nike pulled the plug on the operation in Augusta. 30 years later, and the tournament has remained right where it started. During that time, Peach Jam became the second biggest economic driving event in Augusta, behind the Masters Tournament.

The tournament has become an essential part of the fabric of Augusta. That wasn’t Bryant’s intention when he told Nike to host their tournament there. But because of that choice he made, Augusta will always be associated with high level hoops and the future of basketball once summer rolls around.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: How Augusta became the 30-year home of Nike EYBL Peach Jam basketball