Kids didn't have too much trouble locating
the host of the Loren Woods basketball clinic last month.
He was the 7-footer towering
Loren Woods leading a skill station |
above the 100 kids on the Cardinal Ritter
basketball court.
Woods is a 1996 graduate of Cardinal Ritter
Prep and now a center with the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.
Woods brought along former teammates and present-day
coaches at Cardinal Ritter to teach a variety of basketball
skills. One of the most interesting exercises was trying
to dribble a tennis ball, instead of a basketball.
Ron Walker Jr. is the junior varsity coach
at Cardinal Ritter. He told the kids, "If you can handle
a tennis ball, dribbling a basketball is easy."
Kimberly
Franklin |
Thirteen-year-old Kimberly Franklin and 10-year-old
Bridget Hacker said they both wanted to improve their dribbling
skills, especially with their left or "off" hand.
Kimberly said she's also looking for help
in improving her shooting with both hands. Bridget also
wants to learn more about shooting with her left hand.
The clinic attracted a number of girl players
as well as boys. Thirteen-year-old Ricky Whittington was
one who came to learn more about playing defense. Loren
Bridget Hacker |
Woods' clinic had one training station that
helped players master the speed and skill needed to play
a switching "help" defense.
The free basketball clinic was the first
event sponsored by Loren Wood's new foundation, "Lo and
Behold." (The name is a play on words of his nickname,
Lo Lo.) The foundation's main purpose will be to aid
Cardinal Ritter students further their educations.
Ricky Whittington |
In addition to providing scholarships, the
foundation hopes to start a mentoring program to help "increase
the likelihood of students' professional success after college."
Woods is a living example of Ritter's slogan
that stresses its tradition in both sports and academics.
Cardinal Ritter has turned out a number of
prominent basketball players who also graduated from college.
Woods is a graduate of the University of Arizona and next
season will be his 6th year in the NBA.
Among other noted graduates are Jahidi White
of Georgetown and the NBA, Chris Carrawell of Duke University
and Julian Winfield of the University of Missouri. Woods
speaks with pride of Cardinal Ritter's graduation rate "in
the high 90s."
The clinic was open to kids 10 to 14. It
started with stretching and warm-up exercises Woods uses
with the Raptors.
Then, the kids rotated between six different
"skills stations."
In addition to the dribbling and defense stations,
kids also practiced various shooting and rebounding techniques.
Woods worked at the station that had kids go one-on-one
from the lane.
Of course, that's where Woods does most of
his work with the Raptors. He noted recent NBA rules changes
that keep players away from the basket. But, he said he
isn't working on jump-shooting like 7-footer Dirk Nowitzki
of the Dallas Mavericks.
"I'm a center," he said. His choice of the
toughest center he's faced was easy. He said, "Shaq," Shaquille
O'Neal of the Miami Heat. Nowitzki and O'Neal led their
two teams to the NBA finals last month.
Woods has been with three NBA teams. He was
drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves and played for Miami
before being traded to the Raptors.
Of course, the kids at the clinic haven't
had the types of basketball experiences that Woods has had.
But, they've had memorable experiences just
the same.
Fifth-grader Bridget Hacker said her best
basketball memory so far was winning a consolation final
in a Catholic tournament when she was in 3rd grade. She
started playing in 1st grade. Her father, Mark, is the athletic
director at St. Mary's High School.
Kimberly Franklin said she started basketball
in 4th grade. Her best memory was an AAU championship game
with the 10-11 age V Spirits select team.
Mark Whittington said his favorite basketball
memory was right at Cardinal Ritter. He was on the junior
varsity team and got to play against the Ritter varsity
in a game.
He said he'd like to attend Memphis University
because of its basketball program.
Woods said he'd like to make the Cardinal
Ritter summer basketball clinic an annual event. He wants
to add strength to Ritter's twin goals of enhancing both
sports and academics at his former high school.
