By Blake Haas
PONTIAC- As school is about to start, kids in the local area are getting a head start on the fundamentals of basketball.
Peoria native and NBA veteran Shaun Livingston brought his basketball camp to the Pontiac Rec Center on n Wednesday. The 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warrior point guard said he designed the Pride of Peoria clinic to create skills that will add to both young men and women’s goals.
“We have been doing basketball camps for the past couple years. Myself, Marcellus Sommerville, A.J. Guyton, and Daniel Ruffin have been putting on camps in Peoria area for the past five years” Livingston explained as to why he is coming back to put on the camp. “We wanted to branch out to Central Illinois, other places around Peoria that are know for basketball as well. We just want to come out and interact with the kids and make it fun.”
“Were just trying to spread awareness that we want to go around and teach the fundamentals of basketball,” said Ruffin, the Peoria High School coach and Bradley standout. “This is the first step, getting the opportunity here in Pontiac. Learn about the community, and try to spread the wealth of knowledge that we have learned through basketball.”
Daniel Ruffin, who played with Shaun Livingston at Peoria High School, captured the IHSA State Championship in 2003.
The clinic also featured another Peoria native in Marcellus Sommerville. The former Bradley standout said that teaching kids the fundamentals brings happiness.
“It means a lot to show a kid how to make a cross over, and a proper pass. I think that once they get it, that feeling that you have inside that you are helping them progress is a feeling that you can live with once they develop” Sommerville said.
The clinic provided skills in both the defensive and offensive standpoint. These skills ranged from ball handling drills to defensive slides to fundamental layup drills.
“We want to teach basic skills, and also the fundamentals” Livingston added. “Also, the value of teamwork, that’s very important as well.”
The clinic provided many different assets to teamwork by creating drills that required teamwork.
“We’re trying to put it on for our city, represent our families, but at the end of the day its all about the kids” Livingston said. “That’s why were all here, to give the opportunity to come out and play guys at the collegiate level and at the pro level.”
The clinic has been putting on camps through central Illinois all summer. You can watch Marcellus Sommerville and Daniel Ruffin on ESPN as they compete for $2 million on the Always a Brave alumni team.
Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].
