newell camp

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SoCalHoops College News

Pete Newell's Big Man Camp:
Two Tidbits--(Aug. 28, 2000)

Pete Newell's "Big Man Camp" is sort of hard to find out about, unless you know where to look. This year, we heard about Pete Newell's Big Man Camp which took place two weeks ago in Honolulu from two sources:

This from Shav Glick's column in the LA Times yesterday (8/26):

When Pete Newell held his Big Man Camp in Honolulu, he was surrounded by some of the flashiest dunkers in basketball. The motto of the camp, however, is, "Leave your dunks at the door. You're here to work." Newell, who will soon turn 85, told the players, "I'm here to introduce you to your feet. This is not about how well you can dunk. In the NBA, the big man has to play a lot of isolation basketball. It's 90% feet and 10% ball."

And this from Andy Katz' weekly column at ESPN.com, who reported that two SoCal players, Jason and Jarron Collins (formerly of Harvard-Westlake, and now at Stanford, in case you've been on Mars for the last five years), were the strongest (not the "best" but the strongest) players at the camp. Here's an excerpt from Andy's column, and what he said about the players from SoCal:

Pete Newell's Big Man Camp last week in Honolulu was another success story for the pivot men who worked on their skills. A number of
players helped themselves, according to scouts who witnessed the camp.

Jarron Collins, 6-10, Sr., Stanford;
Jason Collins, 6-11, So., Stanford:
Both reportedly banged well in the post and showed they have gotten much stronger. Their low-post skills proved that they were the most talented big men in the camp.

Dan Gadzuric, 6-11, Jr., UCLA:
Showed signs of improvement with hook shots and his movement around the basket and running the floor. But he still needed to gain control of his body underneath the basket.

Eric Chenowith, 7-1, Sr., Kansas:
The most impressive part of his growth came in body appearance. Scouts were impressed that he looked stronger even if his game hasn't dramatically improved.