NEW WASHINGTON — If it is good enough for Mason Studer and Max Dawson, it is good enough for anyone.
If it is worth Mason Studer and Max Dawson’s time, it is worth yours, too.
On Thursday morning, 130 campers finished up the third and final day of the Next Level Basketball 419 Camp at Buckeye Central High School, the 14th year of one of the best youth camps in the state and I’ll forever stand by that statement.
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Campers were put through 10 stations running 10 minutes apiece and were given drills to sharpen fundamental skills that can be done anywhere. From footwork drills that are easily done on a bedroom floor to drop-step post moves that don’t even need to be worked on with a basketball hoop. It is those fundamentals that built 130 better basketball players this week.
But it is also those fundamental drills that seem to be making the seasoned player shy away from attending. Only nine male high school players signed up. They couldn’t even do a full 5-on-5 game.
My sound word of advice, you are never too good to work on your fundamentals.
Max Dawson signed to play college basketball at Ashland University where he will see time as a point guard and a 2-guard. His education is paid for and he has every opportunity out there to make Name, Image and Likeness money during his time as a college athlete. He went to the Next Level Basketball 419 Camp every year he was eligible. And the first year he wasn’t, he returned as a counselor and coach running his own station.
Mason Studer is also playing college hoops but at Ohio Northern University where he will earn a degree and leave school debt free, just like Dawson. Last year, Studer returned to the camp after he aged out to teach a station.
They both believe in what the Next Level Basketball 419 Camp is all about and believe they got better at the game every time they attended. They both took turns addressing the campers during the week and made to to let them know that they are never going to be good enough to ignore the fundamentals.
“To have someone like Max and Mason, who are playing college basketball in one of the toughest eras with the transfer portal, who have a scholarship to go play at the next level and they believe in what we are doing, that means a lot,” Next Level Basketball 419 Camp Director Joe Bedingfield said. “They never get board with the basics. They worked out before we started camp today and they were doing a lot of the things we did with the kids today.
“When they were seniors coming to this camp, they could have easily looked down on this basic stuff, but they love the game and love to work so much that the game looks easy because of their sound fundamentals. That is the opportunity we are offering the kids in the area. They can come here, work on a few things, take different ideas and hear different voices.”
As I watched the high school group go through their sessions, it was one of the most interesting ones to watch. Yes, they were doing basic basketball movements and things they may have otherwise been board with, but they were all doing the drills with purpose. They were ferocious with their movements and locked in on the littlest of things.
It was refeshing.
And it was a bit sad because I pictured the kids that I cover here in Richland County and just how much better they could have gotten in the last three days. Now, I get it, high school kids are being pulled in a million different directions. Football camps are going on. AAU tournaments are happening all over the nation. And for those athletes who were busy participating in 7 on 7 football camps or playing games on their AAU teams (even though I think they would be better served spending three days at the Next Level camp than playing AAU) I commend you. Keep working hard.
But for those who simply slept in this week and took it easy but expect to have a varsity starting spot sitting there waiting come November, why weren’t you there? I promise, you aren’t so good that you do not need a 3-day fundamentals refresher. You aren’t so good that you do not need coached by a group of 25 coaches with more than 200 years of combined experience. Heck, one coach almost has a quarter of those years and he is always looking for ways to become a better coach.
“What makes the game of basketball so enjoyable is there is always a new and different way to look at it,” Bedingfield said. “You have a guy as old, or as experienced I should say, as Coach (Dave) Hirschy, we still talk about different drills that will keep us evolving. It is essential to hear from different coaches.”
And you will hear from a lot of different coaches. Some more intense than others. If you asked the campers who their least favorite coach was of the week, it would be unanimous. Former Wynford coach Tim Ehresmen would take the cake. Why? Because he was tough. When he explained something in a drill and the campers didn’t execute, he wouldn’t sugar coat and coddle, he would hold them accountable and coach them hard. The way we all used to be coached.
He was my favorite coach of the day. Because when it comes time to play varsity basketball, it is all about paying attention to the details and if you mess up just one small detail, they could mean the difference between winning and losing. And losing isn’t fun.
So why aren’t you looking for even the smallest of ways to become a better basketball player? Think the fundamentals are beneath you? Think it would be a waste of time to spend six hours sharpening every single skill in your game?
Do yourself a favor. Next year, sign up for the Next Level Basketball 419 Camp and see for yourself. I promise, you are not too good for it.
Just as Max Dawson and Mason Studer.
jfurr@gannett.com
740-244-9934
X: @JakeFurr11