It was all driving, slashing and rebounding in UNM’s Johnson Gym Wednesday, as high school basketball teams from around the region battled each other as part of the 2001 Fran Fraschilla Lobo Boys Team Basketball Camp.
Though the competitions are only exhibitions, it didn’t seem so to the players on hand. Hard fouls, dirty looks and no-look passes peppered the gym, which could have given the casual observer the impression that these high schools were playing for keeps.
“It’s like a real season, we play about 14 games and that’s almost a full season,” Belen High School coach David Medina said. “So you’ve got ups and downs, blowouts; you’ve got tight games, overtimes. These guys take it very seriously.”
As the Eagles battled Liberal (Kans.) High School, players barked words of encouragement to each other as well as words of frustration. Coaches paced the floor and demanded fouls when none were called. Parents of team members also asked the referees kindly, for the most part, to pay closer attention. Quinton Woods, a gangly junior post player for Liberal, encouraged a teammate to use both hands on a missed rebound and called for a rally with his team down late in the game.
“It’s the real thing, we’re trying to get better,” Woods said. “These competitions make you better. You get to work on your post moves and your offense.”
Woods said he’d like to play college ball at the University of North Carolina and said he has already received letters from Indiana University and Seward Community College in Kansas. Still, he said, the tournament helps to refine the whole team.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
“It’s been a good experience,” Woods said. “There’s a lot of competition and a lot of games that will help us get ready for the season.”
The camp began July 8 and runs through today. Attendees, as part of their paid fee, receive a camp T-shirt, get to attend nightly clinics with members of the Lobo coaching staff and are shown drills that can help improve their games. The games are played in two 20-minute halves with the clock stopping only when a foul occurs.
So could there have been any future Lobos on the floor?
“Some day it could happen; you never know,” Medina said. “Right now they’re too young.”
Oh, by the way –– the Eagles beat Liberal High 45-33.
