Kealakehe High School is playing host to the annual Hawaii Island Hoops College Prep Camp this week. The camp draws players from all over Hawaii, including Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. In the past players have also come from as far as Australia and Russia. This year, a couple of players from New Jersey made the trek all the way across the U.S. for the experience.
Kealakehe High School is playing host to the annual Hawaii Island Hoops College Prep Camp this week. The camp draws players from all over Hawaii, including Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island. In the past players have also come from as far as Australia and Russia. This year, a couple of players from New Jersey made the trek all the way across the U.S. for the experience.
The camp has been a staple among basketball players in the Hawaii community for the past nine years, according to founder and head coach Andy Smith. Smith, who is currently the head coach at Ocean County College in Toms River, New Jersey, said the main goal of the camp is to first help players with their skill development, and second to bring them to the attention of junior college and NAIA coaches so they can further their academics and their playing careers.
The camp had previously been held at Kekuaokalani Gymnasium and at Konawaena High School last year. This year is the first time the camp is being held at Kealakehe.
Hawaii Island Hoops offers a unique experience, allowing players to get fully immersed in basketball with five straight days and nights of basketball. The players will eat, drink and sleep basketball in the overnight environment.
“There is really no camp quite like this, especially on the Big Island,” Smith said. “The kids needed something to do, wanted something to do, and we give them something that is academically driven. Something that is proven, where they can be in a situation where they are around other likeminded players, our coaches, and this structure for an entire week.”
Smith started a form of Hawaii Island Hoops about 15 years ago with only one Hilo player. He went on to sign a National Letter of Intent, played junior college, played at the NAIA level, and then circled around back to University of Hawaii-Hilo.
“From there we thought, why don’t we help more kids out and bring more coaches to Hawaii,” Smith said. “Through our program we have sent about 400 kids to different schools, whether they are junior colleges, NAIA schools or NCAA schools, so we are really happy about our success rate and we seem to accomplish our mission every year.”
A typical day at the camp starts with skill development after breakfast. The camp will usually then moving into shooting clinics and footwork drills. Speed, agility, speed. reaction and quickness clinics follow before the lunch break.
After lunch, the camp moves into full court work, which includes transition drills and a lot of defensive oriented activities. Before dinner campers will be broken into teams and games will begin and will continue through the evening.
Smith is helped by a selective group of coaches every year. Joining the program this year is former NBA player Luke Jackson. Jackson was drafted 10th overall in the 2004 draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Throughout his career he played for Cleveland, Miami, Toronto, and the Los Angeles Clippers. He had the opportunity to play against some of the best talent in the game including Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James. He retired in 2011 and is now the head coach at Northwest Christian University in Eugene, Oregon.
Jackson, Smith and the rest of the coaching staff keep the kids active with several activities for the first four days of the game before hosting a tournament and championship game on Friday. During this time, the coaches will also help with other aspects of college life including financial aid planning and academic requirements.
“You have success through failures and we want them to simply get better,” Smith said. “That is all we asked.”