The Cavaliers played the Magic, but LeBron was nowhere to be found.
Instead, the rosters were stocked with potential Iowa and NBA stars as hundreds of teenagers participated in the Iowa Basketball Camp’s end-of-session tournament in the Field House on Thursday.
The Final Four-style tournament — complete with professional team names — was only one attraction of the four-day overnight camp. While half the campers played pickup games in a stuffy gym, the other half ran drills under the tutelage of current and former Hawkeye players and coaches.
“We’re working on their ball handling, monitoring them, and giving insight,” senior forward Jarryd Cole said. “The kids like it — they like having us here. It’s fun to give back. Somewhere down the line, I want to coach. It’s real cool.”
Cole, who helped run drills with juniors Andrew Brommer and Devon Archie, said he was impressed with what he saw from the campers, whose ages ranged from 10 to 17.
“A lot of these kids are great basketball players,” Cole said. “I don’t know where they come from and what their coaching is like outside of here, but it definitely shows. Their individuality sticks out.”
While the players worked the stations in one gym, assistant coach Andrew Francis sat watching six tournament games in the other. Francis has participated in basketball camps before — although this was his first at Iowa — and he said the kids’ enthusiasm never fades.
“It’s great to see and be a part of,” he said. “The kids look up to our players. You can see joy in their eyes, and it’s a great way for our guys to learn how to teach. A lot of guys don’t realize there’s more to coaching than bringing the balls out, and it’s great for them to learn how to communicate.”
Exposing the campers to the new face of the Hawkeye basketball experience wasn’t the only goal of the camp.
Francis said teaching fundamentals, confidence, and a good work ethic imparts lessons that apply far beyond the basketball court.
“We’re teaching the values of the game of basketball and life values,” Francis said. “We use basketball as a tool to teach more than the game. We’re teaching them confidence — to not fear messing up, to not fear not being the best, but working hard to overcome that.”
The camp brought hundreds of kids from around the state to Iowa City, where they stayed in Hillcrest and spent their days playing at the Field House and Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Tournament teams were decided by ability, and while some games were closer than others — one final score was 34-11, while the game on the adjacent court was 12-11 — the near-constant activity promoted fitness and hard work.
Drill stations included stutter-stepping past chairs and shooting practice.
First-year Hawkeye administrative assistant and video coordinator Ryan Bowen, who served as the assistant camp director, said he “couldn’t ask for anything better” from the camp.
“It’s been great,” Bowen said. “We’re teaching fundamentals, and they’re learning from our players what it’s like to be a Hawkeye.”