Harrisburg Youth has a great showing at Nike Pre Draft Camp....

It's 4:00am and kids are looking out the window, only to see snow covered over everything.....  By 5am parents are on the phone checking to see if the trip is still on.....   You bet it's on......  Time to hit the road.....


The Nike Pre Draft Camp for Middle School players in grades 6th - 8th was everything they said it would be.....   This is a camp that puts a big focus on skill development and game situations to help increase the IQ of each camper....  The staff was hand picked and extremely knowledgeable and the kids even had the advantage to get instruction from retired NBA players Mike Morrison and also Pervis "Never Nervous" Ellison who is the head coach at Life Center Academy....

Some of the top middle school players in the country were in attendance including Terquinn "Buddah" Mott from the Philly area( top 50 eighth grader in the country), Tyus "Kid Mamba" Battle (#1 8th grader in NJ, #5 in the country), Nate Pierre-Louis from NJ (Top 15 seventh grader in the country) and many more were in attendance.....

Here's a look at how some of the local kids performed at the camp....

Jaron Grayer (Steelton) 8th grade - Jaron showed that he has a very high understanding of the game of basketball...  He was able to knock down shots coming off of screens as well....  Grayer was on the court with some of the best players in the country in his class and he did a very good job competing with them....  Has to believe he can play with anyone....

Jabari Tate (Steelton) 8th grade - Jabari is another kid who showed he has a very high IQ as he did a good job helping other kids understand where to go on the court.  Didn't really shoot the ball too much as he focused on being the playmaker that he is....  Once he begins to grow in height, he'll fit in nicely with what SH already have...

Tyrece Little (Emmanuel Baptist) 7th grade - Ty showed that he has the ability to compete with almost anyone...  He worked well with a number of different players, finished well around the basket and his defense was outstanding....  He drew the interest of other coaches there because of his athleticism and relentless play on both ends of the floor....  Has to make the jumper with more consistently....Was looked at as one of the top 10 seventh graders for the day according to a Nike representative....

Elyjah Camp (Harrisburg) 7th grade - Camp played his normal flashy/old school game as he plays much older than his age...  He is incredibly quick on defense and has great hands....  He and Little played together a lot and were lock down defenders for about 2 hours straight....  Still has to improve his outside shooting....Overall, Camp was very impressive for the day and was one of the top 7th graders there according to a Nike representative....

Darien Perez (Susquehanna) 7th grade - Perez is a tough noise player around the basket and doesn't stop until he hears the whistle....  He did a good job of posting up and making some sweet moves inside....  Perez made a few nice jump shots and is getting more comfortable handling the basketball....  Dribble has improved but still needs work....  Had a very good day!


Ahmir Wright (Harrisburg) 7th grade - This little guy has a motor that never shuts off....  He was all over the court on defense and stayed in attack mode on offense....  Ahmir did well setting up his team mates and also had some nice drives to the basket....  Has to continue to work on the entry passes but his defense was as scrappy as ever...

Aiden Fleming (Central Dauphin) 7th grade - Aiden showed some flashes of being a very good offensive player.....  He went up against some very physical players and he competed well....  Has nice range on his shot, just has to recognize the difference between a good shot and a not so good shot....

Tito Fleminster (Harrisburg) 7th grade - Little Tito was playing with high confidence today....  He did a good job on defense being active on the ball and also shot the ball well from the outside....  Not the fastest guy but has deceptive speed as he finds ways to get past the defenders to make plays....  He had a very good day....

Casey Caruso (Emmanuel Baptist) 6th grade - Casey looked great in the ball handling drills and and learned a lot of good information from ex NBA player Pervis Ellison.....  Once Caruso caught on to what Ellison was teaching him, he looked great on the floor....  Casey shot the ball well and did a good job looking for his team mates.....


Tim Kater Jr. (East Penn) 6th grade - Tim "Baby Dajuan Blair" Kater was a monster on the court....  He just may have the highest IQ out of all of the guys who attended the camp....  He really did a good job of recognizing the mis match for either him or another player....  Once he got the ball, you could count it as 2 points....  He set solid screens to free up team mates and because of that, he happened to be open almost every time....  Tim will be a stud in the future and was considered a top 10 six grader at the camp.....


Overall, this was a great event and the kids enjoyed themselves....  That's all that mattered!!!!!