The Buffalo Grove-based Next Level Performance organization was the only group from Illinois to qualify two teams to the eighth grade AAU national basketball tournaments held July 15-21 in Orlando, Fla.

The team, coached by former Bulls player Dickey Simpkins, Lynn Mitchem and Al Montgomery, competed in Division I and finished 1-2 in pool play, which included a 70-47 victory over the Ohio Elite.

In the Classic Division bracket, NLP opened with a 63-38 victory over the South Georgia Kings but were stopped by the South Florida Panthers, 49-48.

Team members include Buffalo Grove’s Jalen Bruson, Cameron Green, Tom Imus, and Parker Nichols, Lake Forest’s Evan Boudreaux, Lincolnshire’s Connor Cashew, Lake Zurich’s Michael Travlos and Chicago’s Danzel Davis.

The NLP team, coached by Simpkins, Jason Beall and Josh Foster, competed in Division II and made it to the Championship Division bracket.

Former Bulls player Dickey Simpkins oversaw two NLP teams in the AAU nationals. (Jeff Vorva/Tribune)

NLP had a third-quarter lead against the eventual national champion, the Louisiana Roundballers, in the first round, but dropped a 60-50 decision. NLP beat the New Jersey Stars in the first-round of the consolation, 57-54, before it was eliminated by the east coast’s Academy Basketball, 53-47.

Players on that squad include Buffalo Grove’s Sam Goldman, Lake Forest’s Noah Karras and Jack Traynor, Lake Zurich’s Will McClaughry and Jack O’Neill, Schaumburg’s Ola Arogundade, Evanston’s David McCray, Gurnee’s Caleb Reams, Maywood’s Kalin Fisher and Chicago’s Dylan Haig and Brian Mangio.