Sunday, February 13, 2011

Article 54: College Prospect Camp more than hoops

September 27, 2010

The inaugural NorCalPreps.com College Prospect Basketball Camp was held this past weekend at Hart Middle School in Pleasanton for high school boys. While there was plenty of hoop action, the camp also provided NCAA academic and eligibility information to approximately 80 aspiring college student-athletes and their parents who were in attendance.

Neil Dougherty, former TCU head coach and current director of Athlete and Coach Programs for iHoops, was one of the keynote speakers and delivered some key messages to the student athletes. Dougherty talked about his biggest pet peeve, which is he cannot coach the "cool kid." The underlying message to the participants was that humility and hard work was required to reach the next level. In addition, basketball is a team game that requires coaching.

Dougherty also stressed accountability by taking ownership of their own academics, athletic development, and environment. He cited an example of the latter in former Kansas Jayhawk, Drew Gooden, who was known by all 39,000 students on the Lawrence campus. However, Gooden only knew a fraction of those 39,000 students and an even smaller fraction of that fraction were Gooden's friends. The message was that student athletes need to be cognizant of their surrounding environment and not get caught up in their popularity.

Another speaker, Nick Enzweiler, originally starred at Campolindo High in the late '90s. He continued his playing career at UTEP but transferred to Cal Poly SLO where he finished as long-range shooting specialist and 2-year starter. Enzweiler, who is currently an assistant coach at Acalanes High, shared his own high school recruiting, college academic, basketball, and social experiences.

He talked about the differences between high school and college basketball from the intensity at practice to the speed of the game. Leadership is a necessary attribute and needed at all levels. Enzweiler recalled his playing days at UTEP and how a lack leadership caused the team to go from an NIT team to a six win season in his two years, including one loss while up by four points with one second left in the game and in possession of the ball under his team's own basket! He also talked about the ups and downs of college life and the importance of being able to battle through hardship to grow as a student-athlete.

Julian Jenkins is a former Stanford defensive end who also played in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. In high school, he played both basketball and football in Georgia where he was a first team All-American his senior year.

Jenkins imparted his perspective on what it takes to get an athletic scholarship and cautioned that talent does not matter if the academics are not in order. Less than one percent of high school athletes are awarded Division I scholarships but opportunities exist at other levels such as Division II, III and NAIA. In addition, Jenkins spoke about the importance of promoting oneself through initiative and technology.

While college coaches have their top 100 to 500 lists of prospects, taking the initiative to promote oneself can go a long way. Jenkins had no offers going into his senior year of high school. He joined an AAU team and started sending video and letters out to small schools but it wasn't until renowned recruiting scout, Tom Lemming, placed Jenkins on his to watch list that he was contacted by over a few dozen college programs.

Initially, Jenkins wanted to attend the University of Miami but ultimately decided on Stanford where the lure of instant playing time, solid academics, and business networking contacts won him over. His anecdotal recruiting story inspired and educated the campers on how some initiative in the classroom, on the field, and in self-promotion could garner enough recognition to achieve that highly sought after college scholarship.

Jenkins is currently an Educational Speaker for the National Collegiate Scouting Association (NCSA).

One of the scouts in attendance was Mike Allen who also served as a skill instructor. Allen played collegiately at William Jessup College in Rocklin and went on to compete professionally overseas in China, Poland, and Germany among other countries. He currently runs Ballin' Ambassadors, an AAU program from the South Bay.

Allen believes Northern California has a large talent pool that would benefit from camps that guide and mold student-athletes into college-ready material. Originally from Ohio, Allen believes that prep basketball in the United States suffers from an East Coast bias that does not give enough coverage to West Coast prospects. Hence, he believes camps such as the College Prospect Camp would enhance the exposure of these aspiring players.

Jamaal Davis was a participant in the camp as he is going into his senior year at Antioch High. He believes the camp taught and reinforced many of the things that he needs to know as a student-athlete such as time management, knowing who your friends are, understanding college eligibility, being able to play against better competition, and working on fundamental skills through drills.

The above was just a sampling of the coaches, speakers, and student-athletes who participated this past weekend. But the overall consensus was that the inaugural College Prospect Camp had many positives and teaching points for the participants and their parents.

The next NorCalPreps.com College Prospect Camp will be held October 9-10 for high school girls basketball. For more information about that camp and subsequent camps in other sports as well, visit the CPC website.

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