Bob Jones new coach Aderholt wraps up first basketball camp
At the basketball camp for youngsters at Bob Jones High School last week there was a new face greeting the 47 boys in grades 1-9 who came to the three day camp known officially as the Patriot Boys Basketball Camp.
One of the duties new Bob Jones Head Basketball Coach Graham Aderholt most looked forward too when he took over for long time coach Danny Patty in April was overseeing the annual summer event.
“It’s big for our program just to get the community involved,” Aderholt said. “It’s important for the kids to develop new friends with kids their age and get some exercise too. This is an opportunity for some kids who have never been to a camp to teach them some good drills they can work on throughout the summer.
“One of the best parts of the camp is for our players to meet the kids and interact with them and to get involved with the community in a good way,” Aderholt said.
Players from Bob Jones varsity and junior varsity teams helped to organize activities that included ball skills, shooting, footwork, passing, and teamwork.
The favorite part of the day seemed to be when the players divided up and played games.
“They did great,” Aderholt said after the final day wrapped up and he had passed out tee shirts to the campers.
“They seemed to enjoy it and have fun. The first part of camp we do fundamental work and some drills that they can continue doing leading up to the season. Then we have some fun games for them. We finish with 3-on-3 or 4-on-4 games. We had every guy on our varsity and junior varsity helping out with the camp. It was mandatory,” added Aderholt.
As a coach Aderholt is always looking for new talent, no matter how young.
“It can lead to kids developing their basketball skills and becoming great players,” Aderholt said of the camp. “There were some good younger players here that looked really good. The key to it is how hard they are going to work.”
Aderholt now turns his attention to his own basketball team. The Alabama High School Athletic Association allows 7 play dates for basketball in the summer.
The Bob Jones team will attend three camps starting at UAH this week.
Later in the summer the team will go to camps at Birmingham-Southern and Alabama. While at the camps they will get instruction from both college coaches and their high school coaches.
“These play dates are very important to us. Everybody will play and we will see how they do in certain situations. It’s really good to build up the team and see what you have got going into the fall,” Aderholt said.
Aderholt knows he has one elite player coming back. Point guard Trayvon Landry will be a senior this coming year. He already has a scholarship offer and has committed to play in college at the University of Tennessee.
Currently Landry is in California playing in an AAU league. He will be back in time for the camps at Birmingham-Southern and Alabama.
Bob Jones looses four senior starters from last year’s team that spent most of the season ranked #1 in the state in 6A. That team won 29 games and lost only 2 but got upset in the first round of the playoffs.
