For the second time this summer I took a visit to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to see what was going on during the final Johnny Jones LSU Basketball Camp of the summer.
I left after about 90 minutes and I was exhausted.
When I got there, I saw young people everywhere and it seemed that all of them were bouncing a ball or that’s what the noise made it sound like. But everyone was practicing getting ready for the new day of camp activities.
Soon some 180-plus campers would begin their second of four days with stretching exercises by LSU basketball strength and conditioning coach Rick LeFebvre.
I was watching the youngsters do speed runs in place and shin pulls and I realized that they are much more flexible than I was at that age. They are certainly more flexible then I am right now by a long shot but that’s no surprise.
I was amazed with how the guys paid attention and did their best to handle the stretching drills and the eagerness they were taking to the warmups.
Then came Coach Jones and the quiet of the arena was so apparent. They wanted to hear what the Coach had to say as they started their day.
Jones concluded a very positive message about the games they would play later in the day and how they should handle winning and any setbacks. At the end, his positive nature was apparent to one and all: “Don’t allow yourself to be distracted and have another great day at LSU. It’s a GREAT day to be a Tiger!”
With that everyone goes off to their respective court or gym area to work on fundamental drills in the AM session. Coach Jones is right there to high-five campers, say hi, offer a smile and once the drills get started he’s right in there offering advice that will make the camp more enjoyable and help them in the future.
Whether a late July camp or a June Father-Son or team event, the camps are organized to the max and it is something Jones enjoys, even at a time like this when he has come off three straight weeks on the national recruiting trail. It’s something that is special to him and he wants to make it special for the campers.
“Once, I had an opportunity to go to clinics when I was young in my hometown,” Jones, entering his fifth season at LSU, recalled, “and I knew what it meant to me to have the opportunity to be in an organized event and try to learn the fundamentals of basketball and all the things that it really taught me in how to get along with others and to share playing, the rules and all those things. Also, it was in a fun setting that I was learning all those things like fundamentals and the rules. The people that I had an opportunity to be around were engaged because they enjoyed teaching and that’s why we like to try to put together a really good staff for our camps of coaches who really enjoy teaching, who really enjoy being around kids and watching them learn.
“Plus I have young kids myself and I’ve seen them go through clinics and camps and I know how much it has meant to them. So we always like to share and give back the valuable experiences we learned to try to help the young kids the parents give us the opportunity to spend valuable time with. We want to introduce the game of basketball to many of them in an exciting way.”
The numbers back up the plan as finding spots in the camps during June and July is sometimes tough for those that wait too late. Sold out is something that has been associated with the camp in recent years and Jones has a staff behind the scenes that makes things run smoothly.
“Two guys I get excited about watching them work this whole thing are Charlie Leonard and Zach Kendrick. They take a great deal of pride in putting our camps together along with Brittany Carvalhido,” Jones said. “They are really excited and enthusiastic about making sure the camps are run well and that we have a great staff put together for them to be successful. Every coach out here is enthusiastic about the time they have to spend with kids because most of them have family backgrounds and a lot of them have kids of their own and most of their kids are attending the camp. It’s always a good time and I really enjoy watching the kids and how enthusiastic they are and how excited they are to be a part of camp.”
The first thing I wrote on my notebook in watching the drills was that the campers were like sponges absorbing all they were being taught. That was especially true in the youngest of campers.
“We want to make sure we put the right coaches with the young groups and again we don’t try to overload them, but give them some basics they can do so that when they get home they can continue to work on things,” Jones said. “We want to make sure it’s a great experience for them so that when they wake up the next morning, they come back and are excited to find the new friends they met the day before. It’s almost like the first day of school. They may be a little hesitant, but they get there and have a good time and look forward to going back the next day.”
The Father-Son camp was one I spent a couple of hours back on Father’s Day weekend at the Maravich Center and we’ve included a few pictures from that in our attached photo gallery.
What was fun was watching the kids play five-on-five games and then the dads playing five-on-five. I remember there was a big collision under the goal in the Dad’s game and one of the kids from the bench yelled, “Don’t get hurt out there.” I really thought that summed up everything you needed to know. The kids were learning a lot and the dads were trying to make sure the sons thought their dad was a great basketball player. Isn’t that what it should be?
There are basketball camps as far as the eye can see and at LSU there are other sports camps going on all over the campus. They are all great and a wonderful way for hopeful athletes to learn about their particular sport. I know for sure that Coach Jones and his staff have put together consistently solid camps that parents know their children will learn a lot about the game and have a good time doing it.
Learning and fun. That’s a pretty good combination when it comes to this basketball camp. I wasn’t a basketball camper as a kid. I’m glad I have gotten the chance to watch a bit this summer and know what I missed. Thanks to Coach Jones and others, these kids are sharing good times and learning a great sport. It’s no wonder I left the Maravich Center with a big smile on my face.