Basketball Camp: Point Guard Basketball College

It is camp season! When I was 17 years old, I attended Point Guard Basketball College at UC Riverside. It was the best basketball camp I would ever go to. At the time, it was run by founder Dick DeVenzio. Dick was a former college basketball player at Duke University, former player overseas, and former professional coach. He also wrote five books, including “STUFF! Good Players Should Know.” It is a book that I recommend to anyone looking to better themselves at the game of basketball. 

I had been to many quality basketball camps, but Point Guard Basketball College camp is different. It all started in the classroom. There was a wide age range of campers- college kids all the way down to 7^th grade (I think). Dick introduced himself to each and every camper personally. He went through and shook each camper’s hand and learned their name. Then, he went through the room again and repeated each camper’s name…100% accuracy. That blew my mind. Then he laid out the rules and organization of the camp.  There were 3 sessions every day. Each session was started in the classroom where we would discuss and break down the skills/drills that would be worked on in the gym. He would oftentimes use video to help demonstrate. We would watch a video of Steve Nash, Sue Bird, and many other great players in all levels of basketball. We had the option of showing up early to our sessions to “get extra work in.” After our classroom sessions, we would head to the gym and get to work. Here was another unique aspect of the camp. When every camper made it into the gym, the doors were locked. It was 1 coach (maybe he had 1 helper- I can’t quite remember), 1 trainer, and the campers. That’s it. No one else was allowed in the gym. No parents. No outside coaches. Just our camp group. It was unique. We got after it. There was not much explanation of what was going to happen or walking through drills. We had already done that in the classroom. It was pure activity. There was not much standing and watching/listening. Despite DeVenzio being the only coach, at no point did you feel as though you weren’t being coached. He saw everything. He bounced around teaching and correcting. It was a gift. 

Download the basketball camp notes below by clicking this link

Point Guard Basketball College is recommended to any and every serious basketball player, regardless of skill, position, or age. You would leave this camp a better player. Unfortunately, DeVenzio passed away back in 2001. While he is no longer running the camp, his ideas and teachings have continued on. I am not familiar with post-Dick DeVenzio version of the camp, but I would definitely encourage any young player looking to get better top check it out. 

I have attached my notes from the classroom sessions of the Point Guard Basketball College camp. From time to time, I go back and read them. I hope you too can take something away from them.