Hello Basketball World!It's your boy, Jordan. Busy, busy week of basketball. I just got back from San Diego, California late last night. I was out there participating in the Adidas Phenom 150 camp. There were a lot of good players there from all across the country. We were told at the beginning of the camp by Dave Taylor, Camp Administrator(Phenom), that the players would be evaluated and ranked based on the six games we played and other criteria. He told that we would be challenged mentally and physically.
All of the players were split up into teams. Each team played a total of six games. (Two on Friday, two on Saturday and two on Sunday) I was only able to play in three games because in the first minutes of the fourth game, I got kneed in the thigh when I was going to the hole and ended up falling to the floor. This left me with a bruised thigh and a strain of my glut muscle and I was unable to play for the rest of the game. On Sunday, we had two more games. I worked out with the trainer, sat in the Jacuzzi, applied hot and cold therapy, but nothing worked. I was unable to play in those games. I will be getting an MRI tomorrow to make sure that there was not any severe damage.
I still was selected to the all-star team, but because I was injured, I was listed as an alternate. I really wanted to play, but my body would not let me. I was also ranked in the Top 25 and received an automatic invite to next years event. I also had to play the wing forward position instead of my regular guard position. Considering that I only played in three of the six games and I played the wing forward position instead of my normal guard spot, I am thankful that they liked what they saw. Wait and see what I bring to them next year!
The camp was not just about basketball. There were several seminars which were led by Dave Taylor. Coach Taylor was a former assistant coach at the United States Air Force Academy. He spoke to the players about discipline, academics, being a team player, playing defense, time management and being mentally tough. If you were one minute late to his seminars or workouts, you were locked out until he was finished. We also had to write two papers. One was on what we had learned at the camp and the other was our view of an article titled "American Kids Flunk Basketball 101" that we had to read. The article was in the June 25th edition of the New York Times. If you did not turn in these papers, you could not play in the games. He is definitely a no nonsense coach. I like that because you know that he will make you the best player you can be.
Tim Sullivan, Player Development (Phenom), gave a seminar on shooting. During one stretch, he hit 95 out of 100 3 pointers! Just think, you're considered a great 3 point shooter if you hit 40% of your 3 pointers.
Several of my friends were also invited to the camp. They were Kody J, Sal V, John H, Tyler W, Alex P, Rob L, Darius O, Dwayne F and Niko V. It was fun because we got to watch each others games, play against each other and hang out. Everyone played great and did a good job in representing the East coast.
I would like to take the time to thank Joe Keller, President/CEO (Phenom) and Joe Harper, Camp Operations (Phenom) and all of the staff at Phenom, for their hospitality and professionalism.
I would also like to thank Coach Robert Griggs, who was my coach during the camp. It was all a lot of fun. Hope you're my coach next year too!
All in all, it was a great trip. I loved California!
J4-Out
11-17-94
