Basketball camps at Dayton, Wright State offer picture of Division I college experience

Young basketball players wanting an up-close look at how college basketball teams operate can get one without leaving the Miami Valley.

How?

The Dayton and Wright State basketball programs both tout their summer camps as just such an opportunity.

“Basically it’s an opportunity for kids in our community to get an inside look at what we do on a daily basis with our players,” Wright State director of basketball operations Nick Goff said.

“It starts at the fundamental levels and moves up, covering stuff we work on every day.”

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The Raiders’ summer schedule starts Monday with the first of the two day camps they have scheduled. The first goes from June 4-7 and the second runs from June 25-28.

Wright State also offers a team camp June 8-9.

Goff said that offers local teams a chance to see what coach Scott Nagy’s team does day to day and then they play against competition from nearby and surrounding areas.

“Kids can see it’s not necessarily stuff they can’t already do,” Goff said. “It’s a fun atmosphere, a competitive atmosphere and a great opportunity to be around our guys and our coaching staff.”

Meanwhile, the University of Dayton has several camp options in both June and July.

The Flyers’ first day camp is set to begin June 11 and run through the 14th with sessions June 25-28 and July 16-19 as well. Those are for grades 2-9 and offer both individual skill instruction and offensive and defensive concepts.

Dayton also offers a pair of Junior Flyers clinics that are geared toward younger players (age 4-7) and only last from 9 a.m. to noon. on June 22 and July 20.

“This is their introduction into basketball without it being too overwhelming,” Dayton director of scouting and program development Andy Farrell said. “We have short, simple stations for learning dribbling, passing, cutting and other fundamentals, and we try to make them fun.”

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Dayton also has a team camp set for the third weekend in June, but all of the slots for it are taken.

Then there is the shooting clinic for grades 5-10. One of those is set for June 15 while the second will be June 29.

“We take them through our Dayton Flyers shooting drills, techniques, everything,” Farrell said. “Players will literally be going through shooting techniques and having a coach or a player correcting you. It’s really a glimpse at something very specific to our program that we teach our guys.”

And Farrell said they should find the skills and drills taught at their camps to be quite portable.

“These are things they can do on their own, meaning if you’re at home or you’re in the gym with your buddy, these are things that are very functional you can do,” Farrell said.

Information on any of Dayton's camps can be found at DaytonFlyers.com/MBBCamps while online registration for WSU's camps is available under the "additional links" tab on the men's basketball page at www.wsuraiders.com.

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