NEW YORK – The Fort Wayne Mad Ants were today announced as the 2014-15 NBA D-League Development Champion.  The annual award recognizes the NBA D-League team that best embodies the league’s goals of developing NBA basketball talent via GATORADE Call-Ups and assignments.

The Mad Ants earned 27.50 total points in a scoring system established by the league’s Basketball Rules Committee (BRC).  The Maine Red Claws finished second in scoring with 22.75 points while the Sioux Falls Skyforce rounded out the top three teams with 22.25 points.

The scoring system awards two points for each unique player and full-time basketball operations staff member to earn a call-up, with an additional one point allotted per unique player who remains on an NBA roster for at least 21 consecutive days.  An additional two points are awarded for each unique player assignment, with a quarter point added for each subsequent assignment, up to a maximum of one total point per assigned player.  Points were accruable between May 1, 2014 and April 30, 2015.

Eleven players from eight NBA teams were assigned to Fort Wayne during the 2014-15 NBA D-League season, playing a total of 64 games for the team.  Dahntay Jones earned a GATORADE Call-Up from Fort Wayne to the Los Angeles Clippers when he signed with the team on Jan. 14.  Jones went on to play in 33 regular season and 11 postseason games for the Clippers.

In total, 56 NBA players were assigned to their NBA D-League affiliates a record 195 times during the 2014-15 season.  Additionally, 47 unique NBA D-League players earned 63 GATORADE Call-Ups to the NBA last season, both records.

The Mad Ants join the 2013-14 Santa Cruz Warriors, the 2012-13 Rio Grande Valley Vipers and the 2011-12 Los Angeles D-Fenders as winners of the annual award.

Below are the total tabulations for the top three finishing teams: