Coach Heskett gave me an email that was sent to Coach McMillin wanting to get someone from the Lynn Basketball family to a Five-Star Basketball Camp. I decided the two camp dates would fit best into my schedule.

I emailed the coach from Five-Star and he responded back saying he would love to have me and in fact he not only wanted me to work those two camps, but two camps in Tallahassee, Florida, one in August and one in June. The one in June I have to wait on, becuase I’m currently waiting on a response from another camp.

This is just another example of making sure you give everything a chance, because at first I wasn’t too sure about doing this camp because I felt it wouldn’t help me advance, but then I realized how invaluable this camp is going to be very valuable to me in my future.

Every year people make plans for what to do over the summer. Vacations, working, visiting family and friends, and much more.

Well, I’m no different. My plans are a little different. I’m leaving Boca May 7th and will drive back to Little Rock with my brothers and maybe Mom and Grandma. I might then drive to New Orleans to go see some friends and family. In June, I am planning on going to work a couple of basketball camps. Its already set that I’m going to work at Clemson University’s camp, and I’m still working on getting into the University of Memphis’, Southern Methodist University’s, and the University of Oklahoma’s camps.

In the coaching business, its not what you know, its who you know. This is how I got into Clemson’s and hope to get into the others. At Clemson, one of the basketball players here has a brother that works for them, and he helped me out. My Uncle is the travel coordinator so I’m hoping he can help me get into the camp. And one of our coaches here went to Oklahoma and worked at SMU, so he’s trying to help get me into those camps.

In July, I’m hoping to spend 2 weeks rigth outside Pittsburgh working the Five-Star Basketball Camp which is a national showcase camp, where a lot of high school and college coaches are at.

The times that I’m not working camps, I plan on being in Little Rock with my family and friends, who are some of the most important people to me.

Well, I’ll update you soon on how the plans develop.

Gene

On Monday, we got up and went to the Alamo. Here we looked around and filmed a little bit more of our project. After here, we went to the Convention Center to do work the last day of the Fan Experience. UCLA, Kansas, and Memphis were having their parties as well during the Fan Experience. UNC’s alumni decided to go back home. During the Fan Experience, I got to meet Denny Crum, the former coach at Louisville who won a national championship. My dad told me that he knows my uncle, and when I asked him about him, he remembered him. After it was over I was in charge of staying with the National Championship trophy until someone came to pick it up. When I was done with that, I hurried over to the Alamodome for the game, where we watched a great game. Neither team could ever pull too far away from the either. One thing that caused Memphis to let it get away, was Memphis’ free throw shooting, even though they shot really well the rest of the tournament. Kansas played a great game. I hope that Chris Douglas-Roberts, Derrick Rose, and the rest of the underclassmen at Memphis come back next year to fight for a National Title.

We got up at 6:30 yesterday to catch a 9:00 flight back here. We flew to Houston and then on to Fort Lauderdale. When we landed in Fort Lauderdale, we saw rapper Fat Joe in the terminal. We got back to campus at about 3 o’clock. I have been hounded by people asking how the trip was, and all I can say is amazing! I hope that I get to go again next year!

When I checked my e-mail, I had an email from the Director of Marketing, Jason Hughes telling me that a local writer from Little Rock wanted to interview me about the trip. I gave him my phone number. I hope he calls me for this, because I want people from Little Rock to know what an amazing time I had and to encourage more Arkansas high school students to come to South Florida for school.

Gene

Well, today was a lot slower than the previous days of our trip. We started the by arriving at the Convention Center at 11 to meet with some of the PrimeSport executives. We did a debriefing of the previous days events. This was very beneficial, because they wanted our opinions on ho to make the Fan Experience, Elite Experience, and school parties even better than they were. They loved our ideas and told us the compliments that they had received about how the programs went.

When we left here, we went to the Dome Dribble and help guide kids on where to go. This was very easy as we just relaxed and helped direct traffic of kids. When this was over, a bunch of us went back to the hotel and relaxed, until we went back over to the convention center and went to either the CokeFest or Hoop City. I went to the CokeFest for a couple of minutes and watched Taylor Swift perform. After about 10 minutes I got really hot and went inside and watched some wheelchair basketball, which is as much fun to watch as regular basketball.

After this, we all met back up where we got told to meet in the hotel lobby dressed up and we’d find out the rest then. When we got together, we found out that we needed to do a project for PrimeSport and Lynn. We have to do testimonials and interviews with each other to distribute to future PrimeSport clients and future Lynn students.

Well tomorrow is the National Championship game, so that will be exciting. Talk to you later

All my love,

Gene

Today was a day that any basketball fan would love. We met back up with Prime Sport, the Official secondary ticket outlet of the NCAA. We got with them about what they wanted people to do for the Fan Experience. Michael Woo and I were running the on-court activities for it, while Andy Heid and Pete Gladstone were doing the same at the Elite Experience. Woo and I got people playing knockout, three-point contest, and Hot Shot. DanielSilverstein was the Production Manager, which meant he was helping coordinate what was going on on the stage and on the court. Jesse Kopp and Jesse Redstone were in charge of managing the interactive games around the court. There were four people in charge of the school parties, Emily Lipman (Memphis), Lindsay Ploshnick (UNC), Derrick Barenboim (UCLA), and Evan Ruderman (Kansas). Kristin Grey was in charge of making sure people were going where they were supposed to.

After the Fan Experience, we all walked over to the games. When we got in, I went and sat with my Aunt Harriet 32 rows up from the floor. We watched Memphis beat UCLA. We were in the Memphis section. This was a lot of fun. Derrick Rose scored 25 points, but most impressive to me, 9 rebounds. He is a better player to watch in person, rather than on TV. He showed me that he is a game-changing point guard. Chris Douglas Roberts scored 28 and was just as impressive as Rose. Jowy Dorsey didn’t score a single point, but he pulled down 15 rebounds, which was just as important to the Tigers’ victory.

After that game was over, I headed up to where the rest of the group was, in the third tier. I was impressed with Brandon Rush, who scored 25 points, but he also let his teammates help lead the Jayhawks. Cole Aldrich really impressed me as well. He gave Bill Self a fourth reliable big man to go to. Tyler Hansborough from North Carolina also impressed me. Some scouts don’t think he would make a good pro, but with the way he plays, I don’t think I could pass him up in a draft.

Monday we will do the Fan Experience again, with a few changes to make it more fun, and then go watch a champion be crowned.

I’ll let you know what we do tomorrow.

Gene

Well, today wasn’t to bad. We started by being at the Convention Center at 7 am for the College Tip-Off, where we guided kids to where they were supposed to go. During this process, I got to see our head manager from last year, Pete Gash. This guy helped get me to where I am today. He gave me responsibilities in my first year with the team. This is a guy who works his ass off and is deserving of every good thing that happens to him. During the Tip-Off, we went around trying to get kids to go talk to the Admissions representative from Lynn.

After we finished this, we went and watched UCLA practice. I didn’t like the way they ran it, but I can’t argue with it since they have been to 3 consecutive Final Fours. We then met with the Executive Director of the San Antonio Sports Foundation. She told us all about how they get involved and do things to make San Antonio healthier.

We then went and collected surveys for the NCAA. We gave out about 2,000 Lynn University pens. The surveys were all about tickets.

Then later, I got a call from my Aunt, asking if I wanted to sit with her at the Memphis/UCLA game.

We will see what tomorrow holds.

Gene

Well, each day just gets more exciting! Today we started off by meeting with Judge Nelson Wolf. He is a very powerful man in San Antonio. He is trying to get 13 more facilities built in San Antonio. He is trying to raise funds by raising taxes on hotels and rental cars. This is actually a very normal thing. Judge Wolf doesn’t see a pro franchise in San Antonio for another 10-20 years.

After this, we went to meet with 4 of the 6 people in charge of the Valero Alamodome. They have a very well run bowl game. They gave us great advice while we met them. They told us that its ok to work lower jobs, because it helps get you in the door and can lead to big opportunities.

A little bit later, Andy Heid, Peter Gladstone, Jesse Kopp, Dr. Barr, and myself went to the NABC Welcome Dinner. We saw Oliver Purnell of Clemson, Lorenzo Romar of the University of Washington, and many others. The rest of the group went to meet with executives with the San Antonio Missions and Texas League.

When we got back from the dinner, I got a phone call from my Aunt Harriet asking if I wanted to go over to her hotel. Her husband is the Travel Coordinator for the University of Memphis. When I got to the hotel, I had to wait in the lobby for a minute. When she came down the escalator, I saw a familiar figure with her. When they got closer I realized that figure was none other than Memphis coach John Calipari. When they got downstairs she introduced us. This alone made this trip memorable. But I also met DaJuan Wagner’s dad Milton, who played at Louisville, the athletic director at Austin Peay, and was just feet away from Joey Dorsey and Antonio Anderson.

I can’t wait to see what else is in store.

Gene

LIVE FROM THE FINAL FOUR ITS KEEPING SCORE

So today we didn’t have to get up as early, but we got up at 8 o’clock and started our trek to San Antonio. We went to the La Cantera Golf Course and met with executives from the Valero Texas Open. We learned that in two years they will be moving to a new course to fit their needs. The Texas Open is a non-profit tournament and raises millions of dollars every year. They also help organize local golf tournaments for fundraising. They have been in the same location since 1922 and are one of the longest tenured golf tournaments that have been at the same venue.

When we left there we went on an accidental tour of Downtown San Antonio. We passed places about 2 or 3 times looking for the AT&T Center. When we finally found it, we met with the Director of Sales and learned that there is a huge difference in the way to do in-game promotions for the Spurs, Silverstars, and Rampage. We also learned that for the basketball games, the floor actually goes over the ice. They put an insulator under the court 1st. After we took a tour of the AT&T Center, we got lunch at Whataburger. Then we went to the Alamo Dome to meet with the Facility Director. The Alamo Dome can hold 66,000 people, but for the Final Four it will hold 44,500 people. The Alamo Dome is the host for the Valero Alamo Bowl, the 1998 and 2004 Final Fours. TIt has no main tenant. Because of this, it’s easier to book events, and it’s critical for them to host big events. We also learned that over the 4 days of the Final Four, Friday – Monday, San Antonio will make 70 million new dollars. The Alamo Dome is currently bidding on Final Fours from 2012-2016.

We are staying at the Residence Inn just about 6 blocks from the Alamo Dome. My roommates are Woo again, and Daniel Silverstein.

The Road to the Final Four doesn’t start in October when practice starts, suprisingly it starts at 5 in the morning in the parking lot of the Hospitality Office at Lynn University. That is when 12 students and 2 faculty members, Professor Ted Curtis and Dr. Charles Barr, met to head to the Fort Lauderdale Airport. Our flight left at 7:30 and we got to Houston, Texas at 9:30, then flew to Austin 30 minutes later and landed another 30 minutes later.

When we got to Austin, we headed to the University of Texas to have a lunch meeting with the Women’s Athletic Director, Chris Plonsky. She showed us the football facilities. We saw just about everything. We saw the suites, the weight room, the players lounge, training facility, and trophy room. Their facilities are top notch.

After the football facilities, we went to the Texas Swimming Center. This is also top notch. We watched a couple of people practicing their dives. That was really cool. After that we went and toured the Frank C. Erwin, Jr., Special Events Center, which hosts all men’s and women’s basketball games, an arena football team, concerts, and many other events. The film room for the teams looks like a movie theatre, and the practice courts are top notch. Not only do they have the college 3-point line, but also the NBA 3-point line in order to allow guys who were thinking about going to the next level could practice.

From the Erwin Center, we went to the UFCU Disch-Falk Field, the home of the Longhorn baseball team. They are currently renovating the grand stand. The suites are top notch, as is the lockerroom. We then watched the Texas-Rice baseball game. The first 2 plays were pop flys to left field, which the left fielder proceeded to drop both of them. We left after the 2nd inning and came to the hotel. The 3 girls are in 1 room, Professor Curtis are in 2 seperate rooms. 1 guy has a single, and I’m rooming with Michael Woo, who if you followed the Lynn University Fighting Knight basketball season know, is on the basketball team.

Well, tomorrow, we get to San Antonio and I will write tomorrow about it. Talk to you later.

Gene