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Illinois Magic & A2Zoe Basketball

Illinois Magic Basketball

For Beginner and Intermediate Players

Training & In-House Leagues

Players K-8th Grade

Welcome to the Lifezone Basketball Academy!

We are a multi-level basketball development program in west Chicago that allows your child to grow as a player from the beginning stages all the way thru college.

<----IL Magic Basketball for Beginners & Intermediate Players

A2Zoe Basketball for Advanced & Elite Players ----->

A2Zoe Elite Basketball

Advanced & Elite Players

Training & Travel Teams

6th-12th Grade Boys and Girls


Welcome to the Lifezone Basketball Website

In the Fall of 2019, Eric Samuelson (Illinois Magic) & Zoe Smallwood (A2Zoe Basketball Elite) joined forces to collaborate on the area's first TRUE Basketball Academy.  After many years coaching and directing programs it was clear that the current model of youth basketball was broken.  In order to fix the current model, a program needed to be designed that focused on player development from an early age and flourished into an elite travel program as that player got older.

Lifezone Basketball provides basketball opportunities from age 4 thru high school and beyond.  The mission is to have a wave of high level basketball players by building them from the ground up.

The program flow looks like this:

Lil' Hoopers (K-3rd Graders) --> Illinois Magic Basketball Classes (2nd-8th Graders) --> Illinois Magic In-House League (1st-8th Graders) --> A2Zoe Training (4th-12th Graders) --> A2Zoe Basketball Elite Travel Teams (4th-12th Graders)

Players will participate in many of our programs that we have offered throughout their time with Lifezone Basketball.  The main focus of our program is to ensure that each player is placed correctly.  This means that players are challenged in a learning environment and pushed to become the best possible player they can be.