By Sabreen Dawud
Special to the AFRO

Monumental Sports Network will broadcast eight live basketball games for the second annual “Basketball Day in the DMV” event on Jan. 20. 

The basketball event will be presented by CarMax through a partnership with the Washington Wizards. Teams of varying status will be displayed during five high school games, two college games and the Washington Wizards vs. San Antonio Spurs game featured on the evening of Jan. 20. 

“Basketball Day in the DMV is a relatively new initiative that we concepted at Monumental that I think perfectly captures how we’ve fully integrated all of our assets across Monumental to create really big and powerful platforms that we think can be really great for the community,” said Zach Leonsis, president of Media and New Enterprises at Monumental Sports and Entertainment. 

With an emphasis on promoting local basketball talent, featured school teams will be broadcasted free of charge. The boys and girls high school lineup include Maryland teams such as Sandy Spring, Good Counsel, Largo, Bullis and Holy Child. Virginia high school players at South Lakes, Bishop O’Connell, Hayfield and Patriot will debut alongside St. John’s in Washington, D.C. 

Both men’s and women’s college basketball will be broadcasted as well with a Saint Louis vs. George Washington and Towson vs. Campbell game being showcased. 

“The DMV is a hotbed for amateur and youth level basketball. We think it’s one of our strategic advantages. If we rebuild the basketball team in the Wizards, we want to rebuild a team that the community can really rally about. So, to be able to get into high school gyms and local college arenas and whatnot and provide free production resources, we’re not charging any of the schools to broadcast these games, it’s a great way for us to highlight basketball in the DMV,” Leonsis said. 

Each game will be presented with a professional production experience, including on-air play-by-play, a color commentator and reporters on the sidelines. The event will be streamed via the Pay TV subscription on monumentalsportsnetwork.com. Those interested can also watch the game through the Monumental Sports Network streaming app. 

For more information on the Basketball Day in the DMV event, visit monumentalsports.com/news.