In it’s fifth year of operation, San Diego’s Premier summer basketball league is aiming to up their game while returning bigger and better than ever in 2023. The Swish League ProAm is a unique blend of professional ballers and amateur athletes on the rise in San Diego County.
One of the only summer leagues in the United States to operate during the pandemic with extra safety measures in 2020, Swish has taken over San Diego with a wide range of athletes.
Aztec fans are very familiar with the Swish ProAm, as it features many current and former SDSU athletes on various teams. Coming off a National Championship appearance, Aztec Nation has ramped up the excitement level this year, especially for the young players on the team who have not shown their game much to the public.
The Swish League provides that opportunity to get in-game views of just that. Players like Demarshay Johnson, Miles Byrd, and Elijah Saunders are just a few in mind, that will be aiming for a surge in minutes and contribution to Coach Brian Dutcher’s Mount West defending Championship squad.
This year the league is bringing some new additions and adjustments on and off the court. Here are a few:
• 12 Team format
• New team owners and GM operation format for extra competitive element
• Live in-game Entertainment
• Partnership with Humble Tech for improved vendor experiences
In addition to these changes listed above, the games in San Diego are now moving location to a different gym and part of town. All games in both women’s and men’s leagues will now be played at Lincoln High School.
Lincoln High School: 4777 Imperial Ave, San Diego, CA 92113
Free Entry. Free Parking.
Game days & times also have a different look to them:
June 22, 2023 thru August 6, 2023
Thursdays begin @ 3:30 PM
Sundays begin @ 11:00 AM
In this episode of the Sons of Montezuma Podcast, Swish League ProAm Founder & CEO, Kwaku Amoaku joins the show to detail all about the new season and how SDSU’s Final Four run impacted his focus moving forward with the summer league.
“We’re excited to get into year five, the fact that we made it to year five, there’s a lot of league’s out there that haven’t made it. I don’t know if people understand how hard it is to really run a program. It is no joke. We have the best admin group I feel in all the ProAms,” shared ‘Coach Ku’.
This years Swish League has a lot going for itself. Not to be lost is the announcements of NBA star and Southeast San Diego hometown hero, Norman Powell of the LA Clippers, will be owning a team in the league.
And for SDSU fans, the news of Jordan Schakel’s participation in the league has also brought a lot of excitement to the event. Schakel who wore the red & black from 2017-2021 and was a significant player in his time, was a visible fixture in the background of SDSU’s latest tournament run. It was the kind of presence that displayed the true brotherhood that is felt among the SDSU program.
Being able to bring in so many SDSU players in the league’s history also indicates a true marker of Amoaku’s vision for the Swish League. The goal for Coach Ku is to build this summer league into a unification of all basketball players in San Diego. A league whose interaction & experience for the players, fans and supporters that will last for a lifetime.
“The personal stuff doesn’t really matter at the end of the day. You can have all kinds of personal stuff and never have any success. To do something and build something that is bigger than yourself, and do that through sacrifice and chemistry, loving your brother and wanting to see your brother succeed and they feel the same about you. That’s how SDSU has done it over the last five or six years and they’ve been crazy successful.”
The Swish League ProAm tips off this Thursday at Lincoln High. Click below for our full interview with Coach Ku to get all the details and also checkout their full site for more.
