ESPN Acquires Girls’ High School Basketball Site Hoopgurlz.com

March 25, 2008 -- ESPN today announced that it has acquired HoopGurlz.com – the foremost girls’ basketball site on the Internet. HoopGurlz.com is the only website in the country that is solely dedicated to the coverage of high-school girls’ basketball and women's college-basketball prospects on a national basis. The site provides an independent voice for girls’ basketball and an objective, journalistic approach to the coverage of the sport. Glenn Nelson, award-winning basketball columnist and founder, will continue to manage the content and editorial voice of HoopGurlz. Chris Hansen, the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com, will continue to write for the site.

“Glenn Nelson is the authoritative voice on girls’ basketball. Fans of the game will be pleased now that he will have the broadest platform for his devotion to the sport,” said John Kosner, senior vice president and general manager, ESPN Digital Media. “Hoopgurlz is a tremendous addition to ESPN.com’s coverage of high school athletics.”

“ESPN’s acquisition of HoopGurlz represents our continued commitment to providing our core fans with compelling high school sports content,” said James Brown, senior vice president, New Program Development. “The site showcases the kind of student-athletes we strive to serve and will help us continue to grow our 12- to 17-year-old audience.”

“ESPN is built upon a foundation of the highest journalistic standards, the same that HoopGurlz has used in covering girls’ basketball," said Nelson. "HoopGurlz is excited to expand and improve ESPN’s coverage of one of the fastest growing sports in the world, as well as complement the site’s coverage of women's basketball.”

HoopGurlz.com continually updated content includes:

* News, photos and multimedia features about girls’ basketball across the U.S.;
* Rankings of top college-basketball prospects by class;
* A database of player profile pages which include bio information, ratings and rankings, evaluations, photos, user comments and player blogs;
* Lists of top prospects in various states;
* The HoopGurlz Honor Roll, which honors players, on a state-by-state basis, for their achievements on and off the court;
* Columns and information geared towards players and coaches who want to improve their health, their game and their coaching ability;
* Team and tournament listings;
* Message boards.

HoopGurlz.com was recently named a finalist for an Online Journalism Award. The site was honored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) for writing/reporting and is a two-time Golden Web Award winner for design, content and creativity. The site was also a recipient of the Sunset Surfers Silver Medal of Excellence and recognized for Outstanding Achievement by the Interactive Media Awards.

Source: ESPN

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