Two Decatur players attend point guard camp in Oklahoma City

Photo by Mike Eckels Jay Porter (left) and Bracy Owens recently attended Point Guard College held at Oklahoma City University June 9-13 in Oklahoma City. The college is held each year for high school and college basketball players to help refine their basketball, communication, and leadership skills in order to make them better players.
Photo by Mike Eckels Jay Porter (left) and Bracy Owens recently attended Point Guard College held at Oklahoma City University June 9-13 in Oklahoma City. The college is held each year for high school and college basketball players to help refine their basketball, communication, and leadership skills in order to make them better players.

DECATUR -- Even though the 2015-16 Decatur High senior boys' basketball season officially starts Nov. 12, head coach John Unger held a series of practices, starting on July 6, to get his players thinking basketball. For two members of the Decatur Bulldog team, the summer began with a five-day trip to an out-of-state basketball camp.

Jay Porter and Bracy Owens traveled to Oklahoma to participate in the 2015 Point Guard College at Oklahoma City University June 9 through 13.

The Point Guard College was established in 1993 to teach athletes from ages 14 to 23 how to become better players on and off the court by building their understanding of the game and giving them a renewed sense of confidence.

"This camp is a place for our players to further develop specialized skills to help them handle the ball and to score more points," Unger said. "I wish all the players could attend this camp because it drills certain fundamental aspects into the guys coming back from camp. It also makes them better at jump stops and scoring moves."

Last year, veteran Bulldog Mario Urquidi attended the camp. When he returned, Urquidi was a different player. He was more confident, a better shooter and a strong team leader. He led the Decatur Bulldogs to the 2A 4West regular season championship and a 13 and 1 conference record and a 20 and 9 overall record. The key to his success last season was the way he interacted with his teammates in both practice and game settings. This was one of the key items the camp stressed.

"Another aspect of the camp that I like is that it teaches the guys how to be better communicators and teammates," said Unger. "Our young team (members) this coming season will need to learn how to communicate with each other and how to work as a team to be successful."

As for Porter and Owens, the experiences they had while in Oklahoma City were enough to change their whole outlook on the game of basketball. They were able to compete with players much bigger and more experienced then they, while making new friends along the way.

"I learned a whole lot of stuff I never knew before," Porter said. "We were playing against some really good competition. There were some guys that were the same age as us but they were around 7-foot (tall) and could dunk the ball."

Besides the game, Porter and Owens learned one of the key factors in becoming successful on the court, communication. Without it there would be five guys roaming around the court with no direction. For Owens, it was a very valuable lesson and one that he will carry with him throughout the rest of his high school basketball career.

"We learned how to be better communicators and how to lead our team to more victories," Owens said.

Another area where the Point Guard College helped Porter and Owens is the transition into other positions on the court and more effective ways to fake out an opponent in order to land more shots and recover rebounds.

"We learned how to do a full court press, different jobs, different moves to get by defenders," said Porter. "We learned how to use our bodies more, how to jump-stop better so that guys can't block us."

For Unger, the chance for Owens and Porter to play under different coaches and their different methods in achieving their goal of winning games reinforces his style of coaching.

"Its always good for the players to hear a different voice than mine during the summer," Unger said. "I think for a week it was good for Jay and Bracy to hear another coach telling them the same things that I stress to them every day at practice."

But the camp had a far-reaching impact on both young players. It gave them a chance not only to bond with each other as friends but also to become friends with other players from across the United States. It put them in a college environment such as dorm life and to taught them to study -- in this case basketball -- on a real college campus.

Both Owens and Porter agree that the Point Guard College changed their lives and made them better players and leaders on and off the basketball court.

Jay Porter pitches for the Decatur Bulldog baseball team under Jason Porter, his father.

Bracy Owens also plays on the Decatur Bulldog baseball team and pole vaults on the Decatur track and field team, where he is trying to beat his brother Evan's state record.

The 2015-16 senior boys' basketball season promises to be different from the past three years. But the junior class showed it has the ability to step up and play just as hard as the seniors of last season, a fact that Owens was quick to point out.

"We lost all our big people, so it will be a completely different game," Owens said. "We will have to be smarter with the ball."

For a complete schedule of the Decatur Bulldog 2015-16 basketball season, including the girls' and junior high games, go to decatursd.com.

NOTE: During a recent three-game series in the West Fork Summer League, July 16, Owens showed a marked improvement in his shooting ability and leadership skills during each game.

Sports on 07/22/2015