Bringing a little bit of the annual Paradise Jam to St. Croix, a couple of dozen boys and girls, age 8 to 18, ran drills and got technique tips from certified coaches at a free basketball clinic Friday at St. Croix Central High.
Nels Hawkinson, a coach certified by the International Basketball Federation, and fellow coach Fred Williams run the 20 or so young men and women in drills on stance, turning in place with traveling, shooting and other fundamentals.
"Keep that elbow in and use the other arm to protect yourself!" Hawkinson said, leading the kids, some as young as 8, in dribbling drills. "If you can dribble well, there is a place for you. Every team needs somebody that can handle the ball really well," he said.
While the young would-be ballers were mostly boys, quite a few young women came out for some tips and practice too.
"I brought my twin nieces, Anna and Marie, my daughter, Shardae (Magras), and a friend, David Ascension," said Raquel Meade. The girls seemed to be really enjoying it, Meade said.
Her 13-year-old daughter, who plays for the John H. Woodson Jr. High basketball team, came to last year's clinic too, Meade said.
The kids at the clinic also received T-shirts, backpacks, water bottles and other prizes, including one X-Box video game platform for one lucky athlete, thanks to the Department of Tourism, which helps sponsor the tournament.
Zavion Langrin, 8, won that video game: NBA2K13 with Jay-Z, for doing the best on one of the drills.
"It's a really nice game, said his mother, Rabia Hendricks. It was already on his Christmas gift list, and these games are expensive, so that was wonderful for him."
He's really a soccer guy, but this summer he's really taken a keen interest in basketball," she said. He really loves the game.
The tournament is on St. Thomas because it has the only suitable facility in the territory, but Paradise Jam is meant for the entire territory, so they come over to run clinics and work with kids on St. Croix, said Williams, a former college ballplayer and coach who works with Hawkinson on the Paradise Jam tournament.
"It's a fun time. No one will become an NBA star today, but kids can come out and have some fun and learn some skills with the drills," he said.
The U.S. Virgin Islands has been the home of the Paradise Jam event since its inception in 2000, offering mens and womens college basketball teams a chance for excellent early season competition in an exotic island setting. The Paradise Jam mens and womens tournaments take place Nov. 18-21 and Nov. 24-26 respectively at the University of the Virgin Islands Sports and Fitness Center on St. Thomas.
The Department of Sports, Parks and Recreation coordinated with the Paradise Jam organization and Department of Tourism to put on Monday's clinic.
Rakeem Christmas(206-F-91, college: Syracuse), who for the last two years has played center for the NBA's Indiana Pacer. returned home to St. Croix to host a series of youth events this week and open a basketball court, funded by the Christmas Foundation, for the Frederiksted Boys' and Girls' Club. Christmas lived on St. Croix from the age of two to 13, and was cared for by his grandmother after his mother died at the age of 28. He moved to Philadelphia to live with an aunt and her famil... [read more]
Rakeem Christmas (206-F-91, college: Syracuse), who for the last two years has played center for the NBA's Indiana Pacer. returned home to St. Croix to host a series of youth events this week and open a basketball court, funded by the Christmas Foundation, for the Frederiksted Boys' and Girls' Club.
Christmas lived on St. Croix from the age of two to 13, and was cared for by his grandmother after his mother died at the age of 28. He moved to Philadelphia to live with an aunt and her family from his high school years until college. He played college ball at Syracuse University and is the first basketball player for the team to complete his undergraduate degree in three years.
After being the 38th pick in the 2015 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Christmas was traded to Cleveland and then Indiana. His debut was the final game of the season against the Milwaukee Bucks - he made four points and completed both field goal attempts.
On Monday, Christmas visited the Youth Rehabilitation Center and on Tuesday and Wednesday, Christmas and other athletes will coach basketball camps on St. Thomas and St. Croix. Joining Christmas will be Jerami Grant of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Chris McCullough, Washington Wizards and Quinn Cook from the New Orleans Pelicans. Roc Nation Rapper Jada Kiss and others are scheduled to attend events.
The highlight of the week will be Saturday at the St. Croix Educational Complex when an all-star team from St. Thomas and St. John will face a St. Croix all-star team. Prizes will be given for a skills challenge, a dunk contest and a three-point shoot out.
Christmas in July includes a VIP reception and silent auction at the Captain Morgan Visitor Center Thursday night and a street party at the Caravelle Hotel Friday night.
Tickets for the reception and the basketball game are available at Urban Threadz on St. Thomas and St. Croix and at Christmasbasketball.com. Donations can be made on the website as well.
The goal of the all-volunteer Christmas Foundation is to resurface 20 basketball courts in the territory, said Amira Joseph, foundation manager and the aunt who raised the basketball player.
The first court, at the Frederiksted Boys' and Girls' Club, cost more than $65,000, and will be dedicated Saturday. The court was laid with two feet of concrete, covered by outdoor tiles and includes bleachers. Darren Henry, of V.I. Industrial, the contractor, said there were a lot of mahogany seedlings that slowed the work, but his company will support future construction.
Neil Canton, Boys and Girls Club executive director, said the basketball court will help the organization attract more teens for after-school sports.
On Monday, while announcing the 'Christmas in July' schedule, the star athlete said he returned to St. Croix again this year, to give back to the community and 'put a smile on kids' faces.' He said he has been lucky in his career path and wants to share his good fortune with Virgin Islands youth.
'Growing up, I didn't have anyone like myself coming back here,' to support young people, he said.
Just last week, Christmas was put on waivers after reinjuring his ankle. As a result, the Pacers can avoid paying most of his $1.5 million salary.
Atlanta Hawks rookie big man John Collins (208-F-97, college: Wake Forest) has been named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team, per a release from the NBA earlier tonight. Collins averaged 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds across five games for the Summer Hawks, delighting fans with his athleticism and hard work across all facets of the game. More than just a low-post scorer, Collins stepped out and made the sole three-pointer he attempted and got out on the fast break, producing highlight... [read more]
Atlanta Hawks rookie big man John Collins (208-F-97, college: Wake Forest) has been named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team, per a release from the NBA earlier tonight. Collins averaged 15.4 points and 9.2 rebounds across five games for the Summer Hawks, delighting fans with his athleticism and hard work across all facets of the game.
More than just a low-post scorer, Collins stepped out and made the sole three-pointer he attempted and got out on the fast break, producing highlight after highlight, dunking on anyone and everyone in his way.
Joining Collins on the first team is Summer League MVP Lonzo Ball of the Los Angeles Lakers, Josh Jackson of the Phoenix Suns, Dennis Smith Jr. of the Dallas Mavericks, and Caleb Swanigan of the Portland Trail Blazers. Collins is the second-lowest draft pick of the bunch, with Swanigan coming in seven picks behind him in the 2017 draft.
After five strong performances in his first NBA action, it seems inevitable that Collins will push supposed starter Ersan Ilyasova for minutes at some point in his rookie season. The future continues to be bright for Atlanta as Collins will join youngsters Taurean Prince and DeAndre' Bembry as the Hawks rebuild. VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Jazz apparently aren't done building their roster yet. After a flurry of action last week in the wake of Gordon Hayward's departure, it's been reported by a Spanish basketball publication that the Jazz have agreed to terms with former Baylor small forward Royce O'Neale(198-SF-93, college: Baylor)<. O'Neale's deal is for three years with the first one fully guaranteed (and not a two-way G-League contract), according to Gigantes reporter Chema de Lucas. The Deser... [read more]
SALT LAKE CITY - The Utah Jazz apparently aren't done building their roster yet.
After a flurry of action last week in the wake of Gordon Hayward's departure, it's been reported by a Spanish basketball publication that the Jazz have agreed to terms with former Baylor small forward Royce O'Neale (198-SF-93, college: Baylor)<.
O'Neale's deal is for three years with the first one fully guaranteed (and not a two-way G-League contract), according to Gigantes reporter Chema de Lucas. The Deseret News confirmed the report.
The 6-foot-6 O'Neale went undrafted out of Baylor in 2015. He has played international basketball in Germany (Ludwigsburg) and in Spain (Gran Canaria) since his college career ended, and recently signed to play in Lithuania with BC Zalgiris.
O'Neale has played on NBA summer league teams with Boston, Golden State, Orlando and New Orleans. He averaged 4.6 points and 3.6 rebounds with the Pelicans in five games in Las Vegas this past week but only shot 41.7 percent overall and 15.4 percent from 3-point range.
If O'Neale's contract is indeed as reported, the Jazz will either have to waive one player or pull off a trade to have him on the roster when the NBA season starts in October.
Utah currently has a fully loaded squad of 15 players after agreeing to deals with veterans Jonas Jerebko, Ekpe Udoh and Thabo Sefolosha last week.
Only two current Jazz players - previous second-round picks Raul Neto and Joel Bolomboy - won't have fully guaranteed contracts this season. Neto is set to make $1.5 million, but the backup point guard's deal is nonguaranteed. Bolomboy has a partially guaranteed deal, with only $452,625 of the former Weber State standout's $1.3 million salary being guaranteed, according to Spotrac.com.
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