Girls’ basketball: Website gets a new owner and it’s ESPN

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HoopGurlz.com, the basketball website specializing in girls’ basketball, has been acquired by ESPN, the company reported on Tuesday.

Glenn Nelson will continue to manage the content and editorial voice of the site.

‘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 of 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.’

Compelling high school sports content? I checked out ESPN’s website three minutes ago and did not find a link to any dedicated high school section within the site. There has never been a ‘continued commitment’ to high school sports from ESPN. If there was, it wouldn’t be impossible to find the so-called high school page (which has a lead story trumpeting the debut of a top-25 football ranking for the 2007 football season). That may change with the acquisition of HoopGurlz, but Brown’s comments are pure rhetoric. ESPN has never been the place to go for insightful high school coverage.

-- Martin Henderson

-- Image from www.hoopgurlz.com