Scholarships up for grabs in NBA 2K junior college event

The NJCAA Esports is hosting an expanded version of popular bracket tournaments, with prizes for its final four, as part of Community Nights initiative during coronavirus pandemic.

The governing body for junior college esports, the NJCAAE, has opened registration for an expanded version of a national basketball tournament, with some 256 students getting the opportunity to play for the right to be crowned 2020 NBA 2K champion.

The tournament, launched in conjunction with strategic partner College Sports Management Group, is part of larger initiative from the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports called “Community Nights” that will give JuCo gamers an opportunity to compete in esports, competitions and other events during a time when many schools are shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Its signature event – an expanded take on popular college basketball tournaments – will feature four, 64-team brackets. The top 16 players from each bracket will be placed in the Final 64 championship round. The winner will receive a $1,500 scholarship, and the runner-up will net a $1,000 scholarship courtesy of social media platform eFuse, which helps gamers build portfolios and assists in networking and job placement. In addition, the third-place finisher will receive a gaming chair from Raynor Gaming, while the fourth-place finisher will earn an N750 solid-state drive from iBUYPOWER.

“We are excited to support the NJCAAE, ECAC and every 2-year and 4-year college student that games across the country,” said Patrick Klein, Chief Strategy Officer at eFuse. “This is a neat opportunity to compete for scholarships that could impact their lives. We are grateful to be a part of an incredible initiative which highlights the growing number of collegiate gamers.”

Registration is open until Friday on the NJCAAE’s Discord channel. NJCAAE players and junior college students who are from non-NJCAAE-member schools can participate. Those who are interested in getting students involved can reach out to [email protected] for more information.

The NJCAAE, which was founded in 2019, serves two-year colleges by providing oversight, competitions and national championships for esports. It currently has 40 members schools but expects to grow to more than 100 as soon as next year.

Chris Burt
Chris Burt
Chris is a reporter and associate editor for University Business and District Administration magazines, covering the entirety of higher education and K-12 schools. Prior to coming to LRP, Chris had a distinguished career as a multifaceted editor, designer and reporter for some of the top newspapers and media outlets in the country, including the Palm Beach Post, Sun-Sentinel, Albany Times-Union and The Boston Globe. He is a graduate of Northeastern University.

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