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July 5, 2012

GMC Prep men stay in shape with basketball camps

Steven Cary The Union-Recorder

MILLEDGEVILLE — Georgia Military Prep School’s Bulldog basketball program is staying busy this summer, as the men have participated in several camps across the southeast and gained exposure by playing some of the best teams in Georgia and South Carolina.

Prepping for the 2012-2013 season, the Bulldogs are attempting to raise their level of play to prepare for the tough competition the team will face this winter.

“The key thing this year is it feels like we’ve gotten a little bit better competition-wise,” James Lunsford, head coach, said. “We wanted to raise our level competition-wise because next year’s schedule is going to be one of the toughest the GMC basketball program has ever had.”

Lunsford has taken his players to team camps held at Columbus State University, Clemson University and The University of Georgia.

“The key thing is that we competed against the best. At every camp I told the camp director we wanted to play the best teams,” he said. “I felt like we could have gone to a lot of camps and been undefeated, but that was really not my goal. My goal this summer was to let the young guys know that we’ve won a few games, but in order to win the games we need to win, we’ve got to raise our level of competition, and the only way to do that is play people who have already reached that level.”

GMC Prep players have spent most of June preparing to play as a team later in the year.

“The first part of this summer was just to get conditioned and be able to play games” Lunsford said.

According to Lunsford, the off-season is the most important part of the process for basketball players, and it is something he stresses in the GMC Prep program.

“I think basketball players are developed in the off-season. Individual skills are developed in the off-season,” he said. “Team development is usually developed during the season. It’s very important that we go to these camps and that we have practices.”

The Bulldogs have enjoyed good participation in the summer activities, but Lunsford believes it can always get better.

“We’ve had good participation. We average about 90 percent of our young people, which I thought was pretty good,” he said. “Overall, I was really happy with the participation, but it’s got to get better. I think in the future we’re going to shoot for 100 percent because we’ll have young people playing all year with our activities.”

Not only is the GMC Prep men’s basketball team staying busy, but Lunsford himself is working different events throughout the summer promoting his young players.

Lunsford will be one of few high school coaches working the Lebron James Skills Academy, formerly known as the Nike All-American Camp, in Las Vegas, Nev., during the month of July, marking 2012 as the twenty-fifth year he has helped with the camp.

“I feel privileged to be one of about six high school coaches in the nation that’s working there,” Lunsford said.

Other events Lunsford plans to attend include the Peach Jam in Augusta, an event Lunsford has worked for 20 years, and the Michael Jordan Flight School in Goleta, Calif., which Lunsford has been affiliated with for 18 years.

“All of these activities just enhance my experiences in basketball, and it also gives me a chance to promote GMC basketball all over the United States,” he said. “When I talk to college coaches, I’ll be talking to them about GMC players. All of these things I’ve done individually, but I always try to make sure I include GMC in all of them.”

Working the different camps allows Lunsford the opportunity to help his players gain exposure this summer, with hopes of them making it to the next level some day.

“It lets me know that there are opportunities for young people out there if they’re willing to work,” he said. “I feel like one of my biggest attributes here is that I am well known around the country, and that enables me to help young people.”

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