St. Aug Elite Basketball Camp A Success

St. Aug Elite Basketball Camp A Success

August 17, 2011
 
Head Men’s Basketball Coach Ken Spencer of Saint Augustine’s College started the Elite Basketball Camp for two reasons.
 
“To try to get players on campus and introduce folks to our camp,” said Spencer, entering his second year at St. Aug.
 
Spencer and his staff accomplished both goals at Emery Gymnasium on campus. Approximately 25 campers, many from the Triangle and across the state, were recently exposed to basketball, collegiate-style.
 
The campers, between grades 9-12, hustled in team drill stations and played 5-on-5 games. They listened intently to guest speakers such as the illustrious George Williams, the famed track & field coach and athletic director at St. Aug. Athletic Academic Advisor Leon Carrington, Assistant Athletic Director of Compliance Andre Roach and Sports Information Director Anthony Jeffries also spoke to the kids. Lunch was served at the cafeteria inside the Dr. Martin Luther King Student Union on campus.
 
The Elite Camp is the first of its kind in recent memory at St. Aug. Apparently, it will not be the last, judging by a comment from one observer.
 
“Whenever (Coach Spencer) does it again, I’m bringing my guys,” said Rodney Scott, a Fayetteville (NC) high school and AAU coach who brought seven campers to the Elite Camp. “I’ve gone to several elite camps throughout North and South Carolina, and this was well organized. The kids were enthusiastic.”
 
The camp also made an impression on Charles Simmons, the head men’s varsity basketball coach at Hertford County High School.
 
“I’ve been around a lot of camps and this was one of the most organized I’ve been around,” Simmons said. “The drills were great. The players worked their hind parts off. I will implement some of the drills in my program.”
 
Coach Spencer credits his St. Aug assistant coaches for the camp’s success. They are Johnny White, Erasto Hatchett and Antonio Fitzgerald. St. Aug sophomore guard Joel Kindred, the 2010-11 CIAA rookie of the year, and his brother, sophomore forward Jon Kindred, volunteered their time as counselors.
 
The staff drilled the campers on fundamentals such as shooting, dribbling, passing, rebounding and defense. Most importantly, the coaches and the campers had fun at the one-day camp.
 
“The assistants did a great job running the camp,” Spencer said. “They introduced drills that hadn’t been introduced to the kids before. The campers were excited. This was big not only for them but for Saint Augustine’s College and the basketball program as well.”