Jordan Lee from Bishop O’Dowd in Oakland drives to the basket Saturday. (Photos courtesy Harrison Zhang, For OC Sports Zone)
Beckman High’s gymnasium was filled with high school basketball players of all abilities from around the state Saturday tuning up their skills before the start of school year.
To see the slide show, please click on the first photo
More than 100 players from freshmen to senior level, took part in the 2nd annual Hoops by Ugland Skills Summit run by local basketball writer Devin Ugland. Registration fee was $75 per player and group discounts were also offered. The session was sold out.
“It’s really to give an opportunity to not only higher level kids but kids who are looking to get better at the game of basketball and give them an opportunity to have this kind of exposure to a camp setting and some of the top trainers in Southern California,” said Ugland, who is from Huntington Beach.
The session on Saturday included a defensive skills session by Perry Webster, head coach at Fullerton College. Webster led the Hornets to the state title this past season.
“The key is to get all the kids in the gym together and see what they need to get better at and give them an opportunity for exposure in front of scouts and college coaches,” Ugland said.
Joel Francisco, a basketball scout for more than 30 years who has also been an ESPN analyst and Frank Burlison, a hall of fame basketball writer, were among those in attendance. While NCAA Division 1 and Division 2 college coaches could not attend because it is a dead period for recruiting, NCAA Division 3 and NAIA coaches and community college coaches could attend.
“I counted 16 Division 3 or JUCO coaches in here today,” Ugland said.
Lunch and water was provided for the athletes.
The session wrapped up with 12 games on three courts at Beckman. Two 20-minute halves were played with a running clock. Teams were named after Pac-12 squads. In one of the games, Washington faced USC. The team called USC included incoming 6-4 Beckman freshman David Manea from Beckman.
Also on that team were Miles Ceballos of Crossroads, Isaiah Skinner from Xavier Prep, Bryan Lai from Westminster and Jordan Lee from Bishop O’Dowd.
The team referred to as Washington included Malik Thomas of Damien, Malik Sparks of Serra and Jayden White of Mission Hills.
“When I break the games up, I try and put a couple of the top players in the camp on each team,” Ugland said.
Webster said he was pleased to be helping out.
“Devin is a good friend of mine and is always a guy who helps me evaluate players,” Webster said. “It’s a thing where I can come out here and help him and try and instruct the guys a little bit. You get to see players and evaluate players. I’m not doing any recruiting. I’m just watching how kids respond.”
Ugland, who also has a scouting basketball website “Hoops by Ugland,” said Beckman Coach John Goins was instrumental in the success of the camp.
“Devin Ugland started it last year as a way of having basketball players come and get some instruction while also getting exposure,” Goins said. “One of the things I really like about this is college coaches can see a kid being taught something and how a kid reacts to instruction, which is something you don’t get to see when you’re just watching games.
“He had the idea last year and I was able to help him out with some gym space and he wanted to do it again this year.”
Goins said Ugland needed a coach for one of the teams, so he agreed to help out coach the team referred to as Stanford.
“That team I just coached, there is a major D1 guy (Keith Dinwinddie of Farfax, who is being recruited by TCC and Washington State) on that team so it’s fun to have that level and what’s nice about it is they’re all really receptive as well,” Goins said. “They’re all good kids and they want to be here. It’s a good event. He’s got some D3 coaches here. He’s got some NAIA coaches here, so it’s a nice thing to do on a Saturday.”
One of Beckman’s incoming juniors, Ethan Bozzo, played for the team referred to as Oregon State.
“You’ve got some really good ball players here and it’s a good time to just test where you are,” Goins said. “It’s a good thing to be part of.”
RELATED: Fullerton College coach reflects on state title
-Tim Burt, OC Sports Zone; timburt@ocsportszone.com
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