Former Gophers Hold Basketball Camp For Kids
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Jamal Abu-Shamala made it to the Gophers because he could shoot, but he didn't start playing the game at an early age.
"I think it was 5th grade when I started to play. I played hockey and soccer up until that point. Once I found basketball I started playing it and I literally played it everyday," Abu-Shamala said.
Blake Hoffarber was a gold star. He was named Mr. Basketball before his career at the University of Minnesota.
He was a shot maker, because he practiced making shots.
"I just practiced. You have to put the time in. A lot of guys think they're going to play a 5-on-5 game and they're going to be the best shooter. You're not going to make it just playing pickup games," Hoffarber said.
These two former stars gathered to instruct a group of kids on the game they fell in love with, teaching and trying to make it enough fun they forget they are learning.
"You can't just do fundamental, fundamental, fundamental, because you'll lose kids. You gotta throw in a game. The games I like to throw in are ones that are more strategic and focusing on fundamentals," said Hoffarber.
So they offer some tips to get better, well aware that the people that emerge as players will do so not because of this short tutorial, but because they keep coming back on their own, in their driveways and at gyms.
"It's all about how much time you put in. Every good shooter that I've ever played with lives in the gym. They get shots up constantly. It's that repetition, getting that confidence, and really the preparation before the game," said Abu-Shamala.
You can try to replicate some things, but it's hard to duplicate the once-in-a-lifetime shots, like Hoffarber's buzzer beater in the Minnesota state championship game when he was on his back.
"The kids all try to shoot the shot, and most people have seen it on YouTube," said Hoffarber.
