Committed to bring a strong fundamental skills camp to this area, the first East Bay All-Star Invitational Basketball Camp was held recently at Los Medanos College in Pittsburg. Coach Dave Taylor, director of Adidas National Camp and Junior Phenom, was the camp’s guest head coach.

Legendary NBA shooting coach Glen Graham, who has personally coached Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Elton Brand, Allen Iverson and many others, joined Coach Taylor to lend his expertise. Hoops 24, San Ramon – the pros from the Basketball Training group at 24 Hour Fitness – ran a special session.

Players between the ages of 10 and 15 took to the floor for what would turn out to be an intense and challenging skills, fundamentals and competition boot camp. Several local players earned camp all-star honors, while players also competed in free throw, one-on-one, and three-point shootout competitions.

The boys one-on-one king was Jarrelle Tramble, 15, from Brentwood and Freedom HS, while the girls one-on-one champion was Jordan Turner, 12, of San Ramon.

Brentwood’s Ashley Warr, 13, took home the free throw and three-point shootout trophies for the girls, and was a unanimous coaches’ choice for girls Most Outstanding Player. Ashley took home a framed and autographed portrait of Golden State Warriors big man Ronny Turiaf, as well as two lower-level seats to a future Warriors game, courtesy of the Warriors.

Lauren Velasquez, 12, Brentwood was named the camp’s Most Inspirational Player. Brentwood’s Simba Short, 12, was boys free throw champ. John Ketchel, 11, of Discovery Bay, was the boys overall three-point shootout champion. Ketchel and Tramble also shared honors for boys Most Outstanding Player, winning signed basketballs from Magic Johnson and Derrick Rose, respectively.

Coaches Taylor and Graham made their Most Outstanding and Most Inspirational player choices based on attitude, effort and performance. Athletes and parents were also treated to a college recruiting preparedness seminar on the camp’s final day. The camp was sponsored by Trinity Titans Basketball, a local basketball club dedicated to strong fundamental basketball training and competition.

Next year’s camp will be held in June and will be open to 200 boys and girls ages 10 to 16. For more information and to be placed on an interest list, call 925-392-2835.