NBA player relocates basketball camp from Foothill College to Paye's Place

By Pete Borello, Town Crier Staff Writer

town crier file photo Atlanta Hawks guard Josh Childress, right, works with campers last summer at Foothill College.

Josh Childress says he improved in his second NBA season, and the Stanford University product is confident his summer basketball camp will also be better in year two.

“This year, we’re basically going to take it a step further,” said Childress, drafted in the first round by the Atlanta Hawks in 2004. “We’ve been brainstorming throughout the year and we’re adding new things to it.”

The biggest change is location. The Josh Childress Basketball Camp, for boys and girls 8-17, is moving from Foothill College in Los Altos Hills to Paye’s Place in San Carlos.

“It’s a nice facility,” Childress said of the gym owned and operated by former Stanford basketball/football star John Paye. “We felt it was a better spot for us to have it - and we got a great deal.”

Childress hopes the many Los Altos-area youngsters who attended his inaugural camp are willing to drive 15 miles to San Carlos for this year’s event, scheduled July 24-27.

He admitted that the number of registrants is down this year, which may help explain why Childress spent the day he was to leave on a European vacation focused more on media interviews than packing.

“I’m trying to figure out what happened,” Childress said. “But I’m patient.”

Childress and his family are running the camp on their own this year - they hired ProCamps to help them in 2005 - and that also explains some of the changes in the camp. One of the new concepts involves Childress playing alongside every camper in at least one scrimmage during the week. The scrimmages will be videotaped and Childress will critique the game film with the players afterward.

“They’ll get to see how we do it in the NBA and college,” the 6-foot-8 guard said. “It helps a lot - you can build your game through that. It’s one thing when you’re on the court and miss a shot, and it’s another thing to see why you missed it.”

The camp won’t neglect the basics, however, as Childress intends to stress fundamentals first.

“It all starts with fundamentals, especially footwork,” Childress said. “That’s one of the reasons (Michael) Jordan was so successful - his footwork was unbelievable.”

Like last year, Childress vows to be at the camp every day working with players.

“It’s my camp, and the kids - or their parents - pay to see me,” he said.

The coaching staff includes Childress’ three brothers - Chris, Jamal and Onye - along with friends from his high school and college days.

“These are guys and ladies who have the same view of what’s important to kids as I do,” Childress said.

This is Childress’ only camp of the year and one of the rare occasions he gets back to the Bay Area, where he’s had some of his finest basketball moments. The Southern California native left Stanford after a junior year in which he was an All-American and a finalist for College Player of the Year.

Childress hasn’t reached the same level of stardom in the NBA, but he’s making strides.

“My season was OK - I obviously could have done better,” said Childress, drafted sixth overall. “But I felt I improved my game.”

Although his scoring average (10 points per game) didn’t increase from his first to second season, Childress’ shooting percentage jumped 6 percent.

“I got the shots I wanted and knocked shots down,” said Childress, who shot 55.2 percent from the field.

When he returns from that European vacation later this week, Childress intends to get back to his offseason training regimen.

“I need to work on my long-range shooting, get more comfortable with that,” he said. “I also want to get my rebounds up; I dropped a little this year.”

Childress knows that the better he becomes, the better chance the Hawks have of breaking their seven-year playoff drought.

“I feel very optimistic - it’s going to have to happen,” Childress said of the team’s playoff chances for next season. “As a group, we just need to finish games, make plays and get better.”

The Josh Childress Basketball Camp will run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. Paye’s Place is located at 595 Industrial Road, San Carlos. Cost is $349; scholarships are available for those in need. For more information, visit www.joshchildresscamp.com.