View full sizeESPN analyst Tim Legler instructs athletes at his summer basketball camp last year.Change of venue, same emphasis on instruction.
The Tim Legler Basketball Camp returns to South Jersey next week, this time with the Gloucester County Institute of Technology playing host to the NBA veteran and ESPN analyst's annual week-long event.
“The biggest part of it was wanting to address another part of South Jersey,” Legler said of the move from Kingsway to GCIT. “We really wanted to open the camp up to the Washington Townships and Williamstowns. I didn’t want it to be too far of a drive for those towns. We want to keep the kids we have, but we want to see if we can reach some other athletes that don’t know about the camp.”
Former Kingsway head basketball coach George Passante — who led the Dragons to three straight South Jersey Group III titles during his tenure — will again be an instructor with the camp, just not the inside man he was when the camp was held at Kingsway. Current Kingsway head coach Drew Owens will also be a featured instructor.
Legler is excited to take advantage of GCIT’s two gymnasiums, both climate controlled, with the newest being built recently and capable of handling the large group Legler’s camp will include.
“We’re going to break the camp into two sessions for the first time,” Legler said. “This year, there will be more individual attention with me, with two smaller groups rather than one large one.
“I’ll be able to interact with the kids more. With the numbers we had at Kingsway, it was getting difficult to get to know all the kids and I wanted to reduce the size because of that.”
The camp will run from July 16-20, with participants aged 8-9 and 13-16 taking part in the first session. Ages 10-12 will have their own separate session.
View full sizeESPN analyst Tim Legler coaches at his summer basketball camp last year.“We are adding some features,” Legler said. “They’re will be a bigger emphasis on team coaching and we will tie a lot of things together that the kids learn. I want them to execute plays and help with their basketball IQ. It’s going to be more than just playing pick-up ball, which is what I feel a lot of camps turn in to.
“I think the combination of the individual and team coaching aspect will make it much more competitive. I always wanted the scoreboard on growing up and the kids always seem to love it.”
Pre-registration is suggested, but walk-ups on Monday will be accepted. Registration forms can be printed from the camps website www.timleglerbasketballcamp.com. Interested parties can visit the site for more information or call the camp directly at 856-223-1322.
Honors will be given to top-campers on the final day of the camp, dubbed “Championship Friday,” one of remaining features of previous Legler camps. But with all the changes, Legler made sure to emphasize that the biggest — splitting the camp into two groups — will be best for all participants.
“Really everything combined and with the chance for me to interact more will make this camp better,” he said. “I’ll be there all day long and it will be worth it for everyone involved. It’s a quality camp.”
Contact Rob Edwards at 856-845-9478 or at redwards@southjerseymedia.com