NIKE Pre Draft Camp was a HUGE SUCCESS!!!!!

Coach Jamal Robinson with a camper at NIKE PDC

The first ever NIKE Pre Draft Camp held in the Harrisburg area was everything it was hyped up to be....  It drew some of the top young talent in not only the Harrisburg area, but also in the York and Lancaster area as well....  The NIKE PDC was a little different than what most people were used to...   This camp had a huge focus on THINKING the game of basketball and reading the offense and defense.....







Kids learned things like Dribble Drive then pass to the opposite corner....  Then Dribble Drive to the middle with a shot fake and then pass to the top of the key....

The kids were a little hesitant in the beginning because it was something new to most of them...  Once they got the hang of it, the competition got fierce....

Donovin Medina, Tamel Little, Luke Gadson and a few others
paying close attention

The kids were split into 4 groups....  There was a girls group, a 6th/7th grade group that also included two 5th graders (Luke Gadson and Tamel Little), an 8th grade group (Which was pretty large and talented), then there was the 9th and 10th grade group....

The head of the NIKE PDC was Mike Morris who played 6 years in the NBA....  He was assisted by Jason Wells and Jamal Robinson who were really good College players at Indiana State and Virginia respectively....  Robinson played a few years in the NBA with Miami and Portland but both guys had long prosperous careers across seas for 10+ years.....

Some of the local Coaches that assisted were Harrisburg HS head skipper Coach Smallwood, Camp Hill's new man in charge Coach Fletcher and his assistant Coach Chris Ellis, York natives Coach Sam Sutton (All Sports Rens) and Pat McGlynn (York Ballers).....   These guys had incredible energy and their ability to teach the kids were awesome.....  These guys never allowed the kids to "Go through the motions" ....  Each kid was held accountable and was instructed to repeat the drill if it wasn't done correctly....

That's a major difference between the NIKE PDC and other camps....   and I've been to a lot of camps....

This was a really good group of kids at camp...   Here's a list of some of the kids I thought stood out just a little bit more than others....

Girls Division
Kiyana (KiKi) Jefferson - Really nice all around game period...  She is a 6th grader who can do it all on the floor...  Posses a really high IQ for one so young...  Only 11 years old but plays well beyond her age...

Lexi Thomas - She's the last of the Thomas kids but make no mistake, she's not looking to live off of any of her siblings names...  Lexi knocked down jumper after jumper and showed great speed on the court....

6th and 7th grade

Tarajae Davis - Tarajae just loves this game...  This kid has the ability to get into the paint at will and can lock down on ball handlers whenever he wants to....

Donovin Medina- Don Don was all over guys with his tenacious defense...  He also made some nice moves to the basket along with some strong finishes...

DeAndre Davis - This young guy had skills....  Came from the York area and he didn't leave his game behind...  He was able to hit pull up jumpers and drive to the basket at will....

Elijah Sutton - Elijah has a quick first step and attacks the basket hard....  He did a good job finishing at the basket with both hands...  Rare for a 6th grader....

Jalen Gorham - Jalen is a long and athletic kid who slashes to the basket with grace.....  Made some nice moves to the basket and caught onto the drills very well....

Isiah Carroll - Carroll showed a very high IQ for one so young...  He was all over guys on defense and plays with a lot of energy...

Darrell Hamilton - Hamilton looks like he's been playing this game for years...  His moves to the basket were a little more advanced and with his quickness, he was able to get past the defense often....

Dante Foster - This camp benefited Foster because of the half court set up...  He loves to play half court basketball and understood how to move without the ball very well....

8th Grade Division

Isiiah Johnson - Johnson was probably the best finisher in this 2017 class....  He plays with great poise and really has a good feel for the game....  Going to be a very good player....   From the Lancaster area....

Tyrece Little and Elyjah Camp

Chris Whitaker - His first name should be "Confidence" ....  He believes he's the best player whenever he steps on the floor...  He did a very good job picking up the drills and executing on offense....

Brandon McGlynn - Brandon was the toughest on ball defender I've seen, regardless of grade...  He did a great job bodying up on his opponents and making them feel uncomfortable dribbling the ball....   He also has GREAT court vision, and sometimes he passes too much...  Really good player though...  Came from York...

Taylor Funk - This kid has a chance to be something special...  Standing at 6'4 already, he posses guard skills plus he can play inside....  I really liked his game....  Came from York Ballers program but is from the Lancaster area

Tyrece Little - Learning how to use his length better as he made it difficult for the offense to get a clean look at the basket....   Had tons of steals and blocked shots....   Knocked down a nice number of jumpers but needs to become a better thinker on offense....

Elyjah Camp - Camp was able to use his quickness to his advantage coming off of curls or dribble drives....  finished well and did a good job finding the open man...  Still needs to get his jumper on track but he's moving in the right direction.....

Grey Hess on the left

Grey Hess - Grey made some really strong moves to the basket.....  He rebounded with taller guys and played much bigger than he looks....   He's turning out to be a fine player....

Justin Henry - This young guy does very well at creating space so he can make his move...  Usually was the shortest guy on the court but it never phased him at all....  He hit a bunch of jumpers and saw the court very well...

Javon Mitchell - Nice player from the Lancaster area who likes to attack the basket from either side....  Was very good on the defensive side of the ball and plays with a lot of energy....

HS Players

Cameron Paul ( ELCO) - This kid was the biggest guy at camp standing at 6'6 and 270 lbs....   He was a monster in the paint and really understands the game of basketball....

John Sutton ( Dallastown) - Sutton came from the Dallastown area and this kid is a flat out player....  He has a nice stop and pop jumper plus he can defend on and off the ball...  Very good player...

Kobe Gantz (Middle) and Jabari Tate (right)
getting ready to compete

Kobe Gantz (McCasky) - Kobe is a very good pg who I think got even better after today....  He has a great feel for the game and is always in attack mode....  I can see him helping Lancaster McCasky this year because he really understands how to play this game....

Jaki Bowman (Steelton)- Jaki was probably the most athletic player in camp....  His skills are really good for a 6'4 wing forward because he can actually shoot the 3 ball as well....  A few times he made some over the rim moves that had people in awe....

Gideon Gadson (Port Jervis, NY) -  Gadson showed incredible quickness as he zipped through the drills on offense  and defense....  As a 9th grader, he has a very good understanding of the game....  knocked down jumper after jumper and seemed to get better as the day  went on.


Montrell Morgan (New Hope) - This kids game is just so smooth...  He uses his long strides to get to the basket and he finishes very well....  The young guy has nice length and a very high IQ on the offense end of the court...  I'd love to see him use his size on defense more as well....

Tyler Hoagland (Cedar Cliff) - Tyler did well finding his teammates and making sure the right person got the ball in their hands...  He has a quick hesitation move that gets him past the defense pretty often....

Overall, this camp was a huge success and we look forward to having more events in the near future....   The parents were also educated on the basketball industry....   This was needed because Central PA is a little behind other areas when it comes to parents and players expectations with camps, aau and HS Sports.....


If you missed this one, stay tuned for more events that may be coming your way.....


Coach Little