Some teams are put together.
Synergy Hoops grew up together.
Before there was a jersey. Before there was a logo. Before there was a league.
There were four brothers and a basketball.
Yousef.
Arif.
Yaqub.
Ayub.
Basketball was always a huge part of their lives. Something they all loved. But more than that, it was the thing that kept bringing them closer to each other.
That is where the name comes from.
Synergy.
People coming together and creating something greater than what any of them could build alone.
It started at the masjid.
Around three and a half years ago, the brothers decided to turn their love for the game into something bigger.
Not at an arena.
Not at a big facility.
At their local masjid, Masjid Bilal.
They volunteered. They organized 3v3 tournaments. They trained younger players.
The goal was simple. Give Muslim youth a place to play that was fun and competitive. A place to make friends. A place that made them feel connected to their community and to the masjid.
And then they noticed something.
They knew so many Muslims who loved basketball. But there were not many events built for this community. Not the kind of experience they had in mind.
So they built it.
Small tournaments at the masjid became annual tournaments at Long Island University. Entire facilities rented out. Muslim athletes coming in from different communities.
By the third year, there was Hoops & Halal Fest. Local businesses. Vendors. An experience that went beyond basketball.
If there is one thing the brothers take pride in, it is the quality. A Synergy event is not supposed to feel like ordinary pickup. The media coverage. The atmosphere. The whole experience.
The goal is for every player to feel like they are stepping onto an NBA court.
And through all of it, one thing has not changed. The Muslim identity behind everything they do. Regardless of ethnicity, nationality or background, every Muslim athlete who walks in should feel like they belong.
Their mission has always fit in four words.
Uniting Muslims Through Basketball.
Then there are the youngest two.
If you were in the gym for Week 2, you might have noticed them.
Synergy had built a lead against AI. So the brothers made a decision.
They sent in Isa and Yahya.
Isa is 14.
Yahya is 11.
The two youngest brothers.
A 14 year old and an 11 year old checking into a men’s league game is already something you remember.
Then both of them scored.
Six brothers.
All six of them scored that night.
The four older brothers grew up playing together. Now the next two are starting their own basketball journey, wearing the same name across their chest.
And they play the way brothers do. Constant 1v1s. Constant challenges. Neither one willing to lose.
Isa is the quiet one. A bucket getter who lets his game do the talking.
Yahya is the confident one. He is younger, and he genuinely believes he can beat Isa every time they play.
Every time.
They grew up watching all of this happen. The small tournaments at Masjid Bilal. The bigger events. The organization Synergy Hoops became.
Now they are part of it.
On the court and off it.
For the brothers, Synergy Hoops has never just been about basketball.
It is about brotherhood.
Faith.
Community.
Creating opportunities for the next generation.
And they believe this is only the beginning, insha’Allah. Bigger events. And maybe one day, a basketball facility of their own.
Four brothers started it at a masjid.
Six of them scored in the same game this season.
Built by brothers.