Basketball Camps

In the wake of allegations of aggressive recruiting of young athletes, the NCAA has formally banned contact between coaches and middle school athletes. As recruiting has become more competitive, many coaches have sought to circumvent restrictions on contact with underclassmen by establishing relationships with top middle school players before they reach high school – the NCAA ruling from the Legislative Council comes as an emergency ruling based upon feedback from parents and high school coaches.

The NCAA views the early recruiting as potentially damaging to young athletes, as it opens the door for further policy abuses. With national player rankings emerging in Grade 5, many students were actively recruited by coaches before they even played a single high school game – these contacts ranged from friendships with assistant coaches to favorable treatment during AAU and competitive basketball camps, along with letters and phone calls. As a result, many players have issued non-binding commitments to their teams in the 8th grade, a trend the NCAA is aiming to curtail.

In vocal support, the NBA agreed with the decision, which mirrors its own decision to limit draftees to those who have at least one year playing experience outside of high school – in practice, this has meant that players either play a year in the NCAA or, instead, play a year in pro European leagues. College officials are also considering recommendations to narrow the window of contact between high school players and coaches, along with giving college players less time to enter the draft – proposals designed to increase the focus on amateur play and diminish the in-season distractions from scouts.

Each year, the top high school players in the country are designated as McDonald’s All Americans. Nearly all of these players play at the collegiate level (now that the NBA has a rule requiring a year of experience before entering the draft.) Our hoops experts wanted to look back and evaluate how far the 2008 All-Americans have come since last season.

Al-Farouq Aminu
The former Georgia star is now playing for Wake Forest, which has been ranked near the top of the country this year. As a 6′9” power forward, Aminu is averaging 12.6 points per game as the team’s 3rd leading scorer.

Tyreke Evans
Hailing from Pennsylvania, Evans now leads a highly rated Memphis squad which reached the finals last season, losing many players to the NBA Draft. Evans is the team’s leading scorer, averaging 16.6 PPG.

Samardo Samuels
After playing in New Jersey, by way of Jamaica, Samuels plays center for the University of Louisville, where he is a regular starter averaging 15 points per game for the highly ranked Cardinals.

Demar DeRozan
As one of California’s top players, DeRozan plays for USC and is one of the top shooting guards in the country. He is averaging just over 12 points per game as a regular starter for the Trojans, one of the top teams in the PAC-10.

Jrue Holiday
Playing at UCLA, Holiday is a top point guard from California who has had an instant impact for the Bruins. Holiday is averaging just over 9 points per game and has started every single game this season.

Brandon Jennings
Bypassing the NCAA, Jennings now plays in the Italian Pro League for Lottomatica Roma where he has been a backup player. Widely expected to enter the 2009 NBA Draft, Jennings is averaging just over 8 points per game in the league, playing only 17 minutes per contest.

The University of Montana is organizing three youth and amateur basketball camps this summer for area athletes. Led by the coaching staff at the school, including head coach Wayne Tinkle as well as current Varsity players, the camps will teach a variety of skills to players of all levels.

Starting in June, the team will host its high school camp, which is both for individuals and teams, who will compete for a spot in the Montana Big Sky Games which are held in the capital of Billings. Local schools may participate, while other state schools can utilize the school’s overnight facilities. Designed to bring together the top amateur athletes in the region for instruction from leading collegiate players and instructors, the Camp will also hold a clinic for current and prospective officials.

In July, the team also holds a fundamentals camp for young athletes, as well as high school players, where the focus is on position and skill development. In particular, the camps will focus on scrimmage play as well as fast breaks, shooting, foul shots and conditioning. Taught by the University’s athletic staff, players will focus on building up skills they can bring back to next year’s basketball season at all levels.

A camp for younger players, those in elementary and middle school, will be held starting on July 14. With instruction from Montana coaches, players will learn fundamental skills of passing, conditioning, position and team skills. Known for its quality instruction, the camps provide an ideal structure for players of all ages.

As this year’s high school basketball season heads up and we head into district playoffs, Basketball Camps looked at some of the top national prospects across the country at each position:

Derrick Favors (Center)
A 6′9” forward from Atlanta, Favors is currently ranked near the top of his recruiting class and plans on attending Georgia Tech in the fall. Scouts are impressed by his versatility, as he can play from the perimeter as well as the point, and has a solid defensive and rebounding presence as well. Known for his solid character, Favors is a hard worker who should have a solid career ahead of him.

John Wall (Point Guard)
The top point guard in this year’s recruiting class, Wall hails from a private school in Raleigh, North Carolina, near powerhouse programs Duke and North Carolina. Planning to attend UNC, Wall is known for his quick play and his vision on the court; at last summer’s elite basketball camps, he showed his talent as well as the need for him to improve his shooting.

John Henson (Power Forward)
A power forward with center size, the 6′10” Henson leads Sickles High School in Tampa. After leading an impressive performance as the anchor for the Franchize All-Stars AAU team, coaches were impressed by his ability to run the court and play solid defense.

Xavier Henry (Shooting Guard)
Coming from an athletic family, where his brother plays professional baseball and his father played college hoops, Henry is among the most heralded recruits in his class. A 6′6” shooting guard with strong athleticism and the ability to shoot from nearly any point on the court, Henry is a strong competitor and has dominated high school basketball in his native Oklahoma City, heading to Memphis in the fall.

Lance Stephenson (Small Forward)
One of the top players in New York, Stephenson has averaged over 20 points per game for Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn. As a physical player, he can shoot and attack on the drive, making him poised for a successful career at the next level.

Entering this season, many coaches and NCAA officials were concerned that the perimeter game had come to dominate play, resulting in less intense games that relied too heavily upon 3-point shots. As a result, the NCAA moved the 3-point line back a foot to encourage post play down low. Based upon early statistics, the move is having some impact upon field goal percentages, although the impact upon game strategies is still far from clear.

Many leading high school and AAU coaches believed that elite players didn’t get the proper experience at the collegiate level due to the over-reliance upon three point shots. Even when the NBA instituted its requirement that players have at least one year experience beyond high school to enter the draft, this new minimum became the new mandatory, with players such as Michael Beasley playing a single year and others, such as Brandon Jennings, opting for a year of play in the European professional leagues.

The next three point line is still not quite to NBA Distance, although it is now beyond standard international (Olympic) lines. So far, teams are attempting roughly 18.5 shots per game, down from 19 last year; at the same time, 3 point percentages are down from last year’s 35% to just above 34% for this season. Some teams, however, such as Notre Dame, have continued to shoot beyond 40% from behind the arc, resulting in little shift in their strategies. Since most college players are well conditioned enough to hit longer shots, the main change is in players getting accustomed to the line (they must resist the temptation to look down and identify the line) and being more careful with shot selection.

Many basketball camps for guards are focusing on the full range of options available to players, including setting up post plays, screens, drives and reseting for better position. As a result, the transition from high school to college will likely be streamlined for many players.