Mike Flynn's formation of the Blue Star Select National Team, named for his Bensalem, Pa.-based company, has put him at odds with Nike, with which he has had a long association.

Flynn's U.S. Junior Nationals tournament receives branded gear from Nike. Flynn's team, the Philadelphia Belles, also receives financial support from Nike as part of its grassroots program. Flynn also is an unpaid consultant for Nike Global Basketball, which is headed by George Raveling.

"I am going to suggest to the other Nike teams not to play in any events that this team plays in," said Roland McAbee, coach for the Nike-sponsored Georgia Elite. "If we stick together on this, Mike will have to play under-talented teams and it will be very hard for him to find competition. Also, if teams do not attend the Blue Star events, it will have the same effect along with not providing him the income to support this team. Nike should drop all of its sponsorship and support for anything Mike has. I feel this is the only way you can combat this move. If Boo (Williams) sets the precedent by not allowing him to play it will set the stage for the rest if the year."

One director of a Nike-sponsored program in the East explained the roots of the tension felt in the Nike grassroots program. "Had (Flynn) gone and gotten the top kids form the adidas programs or Mike (White)’s teams, I don’t think anybody would say anything about it," said the director, who asked not to be named out of fear of retribution from Flynn. "I think the biggest cause for concerns in trying to keep this (Nike) family intact is that you can’t take a Kelsey Bone or a Skylar Diggins off an already established Nike team or some of the Nike programs, and feel they’re going to support you."

Rodney Knox, a spokesman for Nike, said, "In regard to the opportunity for players being involved in representing a national team, those players are expected to return to their original Nike team for all July competitions."

Blue Star had included Nike Nationals on tentative schedules sent to parents and coaches, but Knox said the team has not been invited to what arguably is the most prestigious event of the summer NCAA evaluation circuit. The team, which has listed one of its coaches as Teresa Grentz, one of the all-time winningest coaches in NCAA history, is supposed to be traveling to Europe for part of its competition schedule. The other part of its schedule includes the Boo Williams Invitational, April 18-20 in Hampton, Va., and several events staged by Blue Star in the summer, according to messages sent to parents and coaches by Blue Star.

"The majority of the schedule is final except for Augusta where a lot of people are upset that this team is being put together," Flynn wrote in a Feb. 27 letter to parents. "I am working on that now and have made contingency plans in case we choose to do something else fun. I can explain that world of basketball to all of you in Hampton during the Boo Williams event."

Bone initially helped attract her good friend, Skylar Diggins of South Bend, Ind., the No. 4 player in the HoopGurlz Super Sixty for 2009. Diggins had been attached to a longtime Nike team, The Family, based in Indiana, but she no longer is committed to Flynn's team, according to her step-father, Maurice Scott.

Blue Star even approached Tierra Ruffin-Pratt, the No. 3 player in the HoopGurlz Super Sixty for 2009, according to a message from Blue Star to parents and prospective parents and coaches of the national select team. Ruffin-Pratt is a mainstay for Boo Williams, who has been described by several as a close friend of Flynn's, as well as one of the most powerful people in club basketball, girl's or boy's. Williams downplayed the report when contacted by HoopGurlz, saying Ruffin-Pratt "wasn't leaving" his team.

Baylor commit Odyssey Sims, one of the top 2010 players, was another Nike-related player listed on preliminary lists sent to prospective parents and coaches. Sims will stay with DFW Elite, which has assembled a team, including another Baylor commit, Brittney Griner, of Houston, who is the No. 2 prospect in 2009, and Tierra Rogers of San Francisco, a top national high-school player of the year candidate, that looks to be the strongest on any club circuit this year.

Kelsey Smith, another 6-4 post who has played in the past for the Illinois Hustle, a Nike-sponsored team, has been listed on preliminary Blue Star Select National Team rosters.

Several sources indicated that a top 2010 wing, Laurin Mincy, and her teammate at University High in Newark, N.J., Nadirah McKenith, have agreed to play for the Blue Star team. Neither was previously affiliated with a Nike-sponsored team.

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