Offering inspiration
Huskies captivate campers at Southport clinic
SOUTHPORT — Andre Jackson worked at the ballhandling station, Adama Sanogo helped teach passing, Hassan Diarra was outside showing the finer points of defense.
The UConn men’s basketball team spent about 90 minutes at the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club’s Southport Clubhouse on Monday morning, helping to run drills during a clinic for about 150 campers.
But after each group of kids had gone through all five of the different stations for drills, preceded by an introductory speech by associate head coach Kimani Young and brief introductions of all 11 Husky players, it was little surprise what captivated the kids the most.
“The most impressive things were the 3-point contest and the dunk contest,” reported Christopher Heredia, 9, of Stamford.
Indeed, a 3-point shooting contest between teams of Nahiem Alleyne and Joey Calcaterra against Alex Karaban and Jordan Hawkins, followed by a dunk contest between Andre Jackson, Samson Johnson and Donovan Clingan, capped the day with enthusiastic cheers from the crowd.
In all, it was a special day not only for the campers, about 40 of whom were bused in from the club’s Smilow-Burroughs Clubhouse in Bridgeport, but also for Young and the UConn players.
“It’s awesome, man,” Young said. “To be able to have an opportunity to inspire some young people to fall in love with the game the way we all have is a special opportunity. Especially in a state like this, where we get so much fan support and people care about the program so much. To be able to give them an opportunity to see us up close and personal, and spend some time with us — it’s a no-brainer for us.”
Added Jackson, the 6-foot-6 high-rising junior: “I think it’s good to be in touch with the community as much as possible. Doing stuff like this is definitely good, to keep connections within the community, meet some really good guys. Good team-building activities, good to be around each other. Overall, trying to teach little kids is definitely a good way to learn yourself.”
The idea for the clinic sprung from the club’s partnership with other departments at UConn besides athletics, and with Oliver Antigua of BSN Sports, the company that provides equipment and other needs for the club.
Antigua, whose older brother Orlando is a longtime college head and assistant coach and is currently John Calipari’s associate head coach at Kentucky, has known Young for years. He used to coach against Young while at St. Raymond’s High in New York when Young coached at Rice High. Antigua also goes way back with UConn head coach Dan Hurley (“he’s basketball royalty”) and his
family. Hurley was not at Monday’s clinic.
“Basketball is my passion,” Antigua said. “We wanted to know, ‘How can we give back?’ ”
So he placed a call to Young, who took him up on the opportunity not only to help out the local community but create a teambonding event on the long van ride from Storrs and back, where the team had a practice later in the day.
“This is great,” said Hawkins, a rising sophomore. “Giving back to the community, some of these kids looking up to us, it’s amazing. It’s a great feeling. I love doing this.”
Jackson said he recalled as a youth going to the Straight Shooters Camp in New York that was run by Brian Fruscio. Jackson would eventually play for Fruscio at Albany Academy.
“It changed my life a lot,” he said. “It opened up a lot of doors for me. For these kids, it’s good that we as college basketball players get to be around these kids at such a young age and teach them little things — even if it doesn’t apply to basketball. Even if it’s just a lesson that they’ll learn and apply to some other form of their life, it’s definitely useful.”
Tim Cepetelli, the Southport Clubhouse’s director, said the idea behind clinics like these is to “expose kids to all sorts of interesting opportunities and experiences, hands-on, so that they learn more about themselves and others, try things they might have a little experience in but might want to take to the next level. Any sport is great, higher education is also really great. We want our kids to have those experiences.”
During his introductory speech, Young, who played in college at Texas-El Paso, noted that he likely never would have been the player or coach he is if not for opportunities and experiences like the one the campers had on Monday. He urged the campers to do everything in life with energy and enthusiasm, and for the kids who enjoy basketball to fall in love with every aspect of the game — drills, games, being coached.
“It’s all going to make you better,” Young promised.
Finally, he noted basketball or any sport is just one part of a person’s life. Young said the grew up in the same neighborhood as future NBA stars Kenny Anderson and Kenny Smith, and pointed out that Smith, after a 10-year playing career, has had a 25year career as an NBA TV analyst.
Ultimately, it wasn’t just the 3-point and dunk contests (the latter won by Jackson) that seemed to make in impact on the young campers.
“It was cool,” said Sebastian Fereira, 9, of Bridgeport. “I thought the defense thing, when we had to chant ‘Defense!’, was the best.”
And overall?
“I was inspired,” Fereira said.
And that was exactly the goal of the Wakeman Boys & Girls Club, Kimani Young and Oliver Antigua all along.