Jewish March Madness Taking Place this Weekend

The 4th Annual National Hillel Basketball Tournament is taking place at the University of Maryland, hosting Jewish basketball players from 30 universities from across the States

By: Graham Sigurdson

Published: March 28th, 2014 in Sports » Local

As part of March Madness fever, a.k.a. the ongoing NCAA tournament (who else is failing miserable in their pool?), Jewish college students from across the U.S. are meeting at the University of Maryland this weekend for a college basketball tournament of their own, the National Hillel Basketball Tournament.

The tournament is in its fourth year, and will see 41 teams from over 30 universities arrive in Maryland over the weekend.

Rachel Klausner founded the student-run tournament in 2011, with students from all over the East Coast coming together. The tournament’s current chair, Michael Shrager - who played team sports at Maimonides High School - says that “Basketball is a common ground that Jewish college students can use to share their love for Judaism.”

This year sees teams from Texas, Kansas and Los Angeles, making it the tournament’s most diverse lineup yet.

Although run by University of Maryland students, sponsors like Gatorade, Under Armour, and Aquafina are sponsoring the event. The tournament’s promotional video opened with a welcome message from ESPN’s Kevin Blackistone:

Jewish March Madness Taking Place this Weekend

The 4th Annual National Hillel Basketball Tournament is taking place at the University of Maryland, hosting Jewish basketball players from 30 universities from across the States

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