What I’ve Learned This Summer
In basketball, the summer is when a lot of players get better. They have more time to concentrate on basketball and get in a lot of work in this time. Well, even though I’m not a player, I’ve gotten better. Not as much in the actual playing side, but as far as my experiences and what I’ve learned.
I always known that in athletics, a lot of times its not what you know, but who you know. This summer I found out just how correct this is. The main reason I was able to work the Memphis camp was not because I work hard or have any kind of knowledge. While these help, it was mainly because my uncle is the Travel Coordinator and told me who to talk to as well as mention that I’m his nephew. When I got to Memphis, I was known as DooDa’s nephew (DooDa is my uncle’s nickname). Once I got into the camp, I showed them that they made a good decision in letting me work, as I showed up early every day and worked my tail off the entire time. I did anything that was asked of me and my aunt said the staff talks highly of me. (Maybe I could turn that into a Graduate Assitant job, we’ll see what happens).
The reason I got into the Clemson camp was because the coach in charge of hiring is the brother of one of our current players and knows Coach Heskett. Again once I got in their, I showed them how hard I work and that they made a good decision in letting me come work for them. But I wouldn’t have had this opportunity if I didn’t know the right people.
I also took the time to learn more about my parent’s business. I have tried to be more active with them in learning about why they make certain decisions or in just how certain things work. One of our employees just bought a house and has been renovating it. I have been working closely with him, learning how to install some of the lighting and how to install tile. He has taught me a lot and I am very grateful.
I’m also doing more to start becoming more independant from my parents. I wanted to get an apartment with my roommate and both of our parents had their reasons for why we needed to wait. He and I talked about it and decided to see if instead of waiting for our senior year, if we could get one at Christmas break. Both of our parents said we’ll see. This summer with the work I’ve been doing for my parents, between camps, I came up with the idea that if I took all that money and handed it to my parents to help off-set their cost. They felt that that was a very mature decision and have decided they are on board for getting the apartment in December. We are now just waiting to hear about my roommate’s parents.
Well, I think I’ve had a successful summer and have grown in ways that will help me not only in my coaching future, but in life as well.
Gene
