Duke Basketball Camp

duhondukie

All-Conference
Jan 12, 2010
1,901
1,038
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Hey guys, my 9 year old son is finishing up today with Duke basketball camp. He had some great experiences meeting Grayson Allen and Jahlil Okafor along with all the Freshman. He got to meet Coach K and the rest of the staff. That by far was the best part of camp.
I spoke with a few people who have attended the camp with their son prior to this year and they said the camp has really gone downhill. The "coaches" they bring in to assist with the camp are not very good for the younger kids. My sons "coach" was a junior high girls basketball coach who might have been 23 years old. I wish we would have known about the instructional side of this camp before we spent the money. The Duke players and staff are pretty non existent during camp and they offer no instruction to any of the kids.
if you are a Duke fan which we both are then the experience of seeing those guys is awesome, but if you want to become a better basketball player and get instruction, this camp is below average.
I can post some cool photos to the board if anyone can let me know how to do that.
 

bob_duke_jd

Redshirt
Oct 28, 2014
55
44
0
Thanks for posting your honest assessment. It is definitely tough to find basketball camps that know how to teach young kids, which is not at all like teaching high schoolers or even middle schoolers; and some of the higher "profile" camps seem to be among the worst. I guess it's not too surprising that the Duke coaches aren't able to find too much time to devote to coaching or even managing the coaching at the camp, especially since the team has already begun practicing and Coach K is also managing the Olympic team.
 

Laettner

All-Conference
Mar 11, 2002
6,249
1,390
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My friends son is finishing up the camp today & raving about it. DBC isn't an elite instructional camp, it's for kids ranging from rec to AAU. The high level "instructional camps" in my area are $1,200-$1,500 & those are eight day camps. Which are not sleep over.

$600 for five days/four nights, room/board, play in Cameron, meet players & K! Yeah that sounds like a total ripoff!(sarcasm).

My son is going next year, already lined up a roomate so he's got a buddy to attend with. I'll stay to "supervise" & play Washington Inn golf course.
 

duhondukie

All-Conference
Jan 12, 2010
1,901
1,038
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It was definitely worth the experience for him and I did not say it was a ripoff. You were not guaranteed to meet any players unless you were in the right spot at the right time which was just outside of Cameron as the players got out of their cars to go into the K center.
I watched the high school kids go through their workouts and they had good coaching from the coaches that were brought in. The coaches for kids who were 12 and younger ranged from Junior high coaches to student managers at division 3 schools to a few players who play division 3 basketball. Coach K was available for autographs from noon to 1:45 on check in day and that was it also you could not take any photos with him. He did speak on all but 1 day of camp which was nice.
I did watch Grayson Allen get out of his car and was escorted from his car to the K center due to the amount of kids that were standing there waiting for him. My son was lucky enough to see him when there was nobody around and he was very generous and a really nice kid.
My son enjoyed the camp and as a whole and I did as well but the basketball instruction left a lot to be desired for the younger kids.
 
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Mullin5756

Freshman
Dec 10, 2004
681
64
0
My 6yr old son is going to Nate James day camp starting July 11. I used to go to Tommy Amakers camp back in the day, and it seems very similar..We're all very excited about it.
I'll post once the camp is over, but for $125 for the week 9a-4p, interaction with Duke players, playing and learning hoop, I can't imagine anything but glowing reviews from me...
 
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dopeshop23

Sophomore
Dec 15, 2009
556
128
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Most high volume camps are just as you described and have been for years. The best camp I have ever been a part of for 9-12 year old kid, was a camp Dick Devinzio used to run in the 70-80s. Note many around like that anymore, not sure he wouldn't have been shut down by an overly sensitive parent if he ran it the same way today.