Texas D1 Ambassadors Serving The United States of America

The last 10 years have been a labor of love in building the D1 Nation and giving a voice to players who in the past had been underappreciated and underexposed.  It does take an adult to have a vision, lead the way and organize and lead people and I would not be honest if I didn't say it feels good to have played a part in it.  However, as you'll always hear me say, ultimately the D1 Ambassadors and it's legacy are the players who have worn the orange and black in the past, present and future.

I received an email yesterday from one of our former players, Chris Gramling an alum of San Antonio MacArthur.  It included pics of him and Austin Bowie alum, Tre Lindsey.  These are two great kids that their families are very proud of.  It got me to thinking of the D1 Ambassadors alumni that had not only received basketball scholarships but had also chosen to serve their country.  This recap is dedicated to all of them.

United States Army
Class of 2010:  Tre Lindsey (left) and Chris Gramling share a moment.  Gramling shoots a free throw, while Lindsey (#12) looks on.
 Old School East Coast Prep School gym.  Where's the peach basket? Now that's basketball!

Below left: 2011 Class Cedar Park's Dylan Cox has signed to play basketball with Army this fall. Below right: 2012 Matt Gramling of San Antonio MacArthur has been offered a scholarship by Army and could possibly join his brother Chris there after his senior year.

United States Naval Academy
Class of 2009, San Antonio Clark's Jordan Brickman (left) & Class of 2010 McAllen's J.J. Avila shown below with the Texas D1 Ambassadors at the Arizona Cactus Classic.  Brickman elected to settle into being a student only, while Avila is making a splash as a true freshman with a season scoring high of 31 points.  He could very well end up as Patriot League Newcomer of the Year.

 Below: Avila proudly wearing the uniform of a United States Naval Officer

United States Air Force
Below left: Class of 2009 Jordan Jahr of Lake Travis spent a year at the Air Force Prep School. He had a great season but decided this was not what he wanted in the long run.  He is now a freshman at Evansville.  Middle:  Class of 2011 Max Yon of San Antonio Reagan had double digit scholarship offers but he decided to commit to Air Force. Right: 2011 G Cole Martinez of San Antonio Central Catholic is currently unsigned but is now being recruited by both Navy and Air Force.

There you have it.  Texas has long been known as a State that has an inordinately high percentage of it's young men who choose to serve their country.  These are some of our finest.  They are wonderful athletes, outstanding students and even better people.  This is the legacy of the Texas D1 Ambassadors.  No club in the Nation is represented in our service academies in the numbers that we are.  I hope everyone joins me in wishing these young men well.-Coach Max Ivany