On a Thursday morning last week, NBA veteran Darrick Martin was sitting in the bleachers of venerable Jack Errion Memorial Gymnasium on the campus of St. Anthony High School near downtown Long Beach, recalling what it felt like to play in the pocket-sized enclosure.
"I think we had 850 kids when I was here, and it was like I had 849 brothers and sisters," reported the '88 alum, who during his senior year was named to both Parade Magazine's and McDonald's all-American high school teams. "If your school played St. Anthony's here and you fouled me, you would have probably everybody in the stands coming to get you.
"The 'pit' was right over there where the students would sit in, and it would just be loud and rocking in here," he added, pointing to a section at one end of the court. "I just loved it. It was really a family atmosphere. And I still get chills walking through this gym, thinking about the different things that I was able to accomplish and just being a part of something special."
But it wasn't all hoop dreams for Martin at St. Anthony's.
"All the teachers were about you becoming a better person and getting a good education," he said. "I got that from my parents and it was reinforced here. When I got a scholarship to UCLA, my mom was more proud about me getting my degree than all my years playing basketball."
Still, basketball was a big part of young Martin's life. Every summer he wanted to attend one basketball camp or the other, but his family could never afford it. He remembered being heartbroken when he couldn't go to Magic Johnson's camp because it cost $325.
So he told himself if he ever played professional ball he'd put on a camp himself, and it would be free. Today - after bouncing around the old CBA (Continental Basketball Association) and NBA for a dozen years, touring with Magic Johnson's All-Stars plus playing for the Harlem Globetrotters - the 36-year-old, 5'11'', 170-pound athlete has put on eight camps, most recently this summer at St. Anthony High School for 120 boys and girls, ages 7-17.
The "Darrick Martin Basketball and Book Camp" in Long Beach, like previous camps, focused from August 13 to 17 not only on basketball but also life skills. Classes in nutrition and hygiene, goal-setting, study skills and leadership development were held along with drills in dribbling, passing and shooting.
Balanced approach
"The biggest thing I want the kids to understand is that basketball in some sense, like the slogan says, is life," Martin noted. "But truly it's not. There's other aspects that truly make up your life; basketball just happens to be a small percentage of it. Schooling is much more important.
"I definitely want to teach them my knowledge about basketball and the things that have helped me be successful. Because there are kids out there who are dreaming to play in the NBA. But then I also want to give them the same amount of insight into what it took for me to get through high school and college - to let them know that I had to put just as much time into studying as basketball. So there's a balance."
He knows how easily inner-city kids can be swept up with the idea of playing professional basketball, while letting school work slide. And he acknowledges it can be difficult to change that mindset.
But the Toronto Raptors point guard believes he's got an ace in the hole. Growing up in Compton, he struggled with the same negative peer pressures and influences, including gangs and drugs.
He's even got a ready-made answer when somebody remarks, "But you made it, man."
"Yeah, and I give them the breakdown: there's only 425 jobs in the NBA," he said. "I have 120 kids here; another camp might have 200. That's 320 alone. And they say, 'There's only 425 jobs? Are you sure?' I say, yeah, and you can see them starting to think: 'Ah, well, I guess I'd better be able to do something else.'"
This reality-check message was reinforced at the camp all week long by Martin and some friends, including current NBA players Baron Davis, Jalen Rose and Andre Miller and former player and now coach Daniel Armstrong.
"We all say, 'I'm not telling you never to dream. Always dream. Always pursue your dreams. But have a plan B, C or even D,'" he said. "So I think they're getting it. The light bulb is going on for them."
Class work
In her class on leadership, Gina Rushing, president of St. Anthony High School, also told students they should "stay close" to their dreams. Other topics during the hour session were heroes and their qualities, life obstacles and how to overcome them, fears, body language, character, listening and speaking.
During an interview after class, the educator said the idea for the camp came mainly from athletic director Brian Walsh, who wanted the camp to dovetail with St. Anthony's focus on developing the whole person.
"The concept was that it's just not sports - that success in life is balanced learning," Rushing explained. "And Darrick was adamant that the kids just weren't going to be playing basketball all day and doing drills, even though that's what they kind of hoped and thought they would get.
"So this is a good way to get kids in here, and then do something else," she added with a smile. "A realization that success is about a balanced life."
Rushing said the camp's overriding theme was to help students realize that fulfilling their dreams takes focus and hard work.
"I think a lot of kids drop out of school because they've lost their dream," she mused. "Like a little boy in my class who said he wanted to be an NBA player. I hope he's getting the message that that's a great call, but there's other threads to your life here beyond just athletics.
"The camp matched our mission, which is to educate body, mind and spirit," she said. "And Darrick is a great role model for that. He's lived a good life. He didn't give up on his education because that's what's going to carry him beyond the NBA. And he gives back."
'I'm enjoying myself'
Yohannes Seifu, 17, said the summer camp was helping him get in shape to try out for the basketball team as a senior at Hamilton High School in Los Angeles.
"It's good," he confided. "I'm enjoying myself, learning how to eat right in the nutrition classes. A lot of stuff that's out there is not good for you. It clogs your arteries. So you're supposed to eat fruits and vegetables."
But the teenager said he's also learned that education comes first. He was impressed by a class about fulfilling your dreams. "Don't let anybody tell you what you can do," he observed. "Just go out there, and you've got to work hard because it's just not going to come easy."
His dream is to go to junior college and then transfer to UC Berkley or USC. He wants to earn a degree in sociology and play basketball. "I'm aiming for the pros, but I want to go to college first," he said.
Yohannes attends the same Baptist church as Darrick Martin and his family. And he can rattle off all the NBA teamS Darrick's played for over the years: Minnesota Timberwolves, Vancouver Grizzles, L.A. Clippers, Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks and Toronto Raptors.
"He's real nice doing this for the kids, and it's free," he said. "A lot of basketball players in the NBA might take the time out to have a camp, but it's not usually free."
Celeste Moncure --- headed for Long Beach Poly this fall as a freshman --- hopes to be a shooting guard on the basketball team, and maybe play college ball, too.
"It's cool, it's fun," the 14-year-old said of the summer camp. She also learned something she didn't expect to learn at a basketball camp - facts about nutrition, including what foods are fattening. Now she's trying to give them up.
There were other life lessons as well.
"You learn that you take leadership and you might not be a leader," she reported. "But if you keep working at it, then people are going to see you as a leader. So you can become a leader, but you don't have to be a leader at the start.
"Also, just being able to live your everyday life," she added. "You're going to be put in situations that are outside of basketball. That's why you've got to be able to do those things. And if basketball doesn't take you anywhere, you've got to be able to go on and earn a degree to get a job. You've got to have plan A, B, C and D."
But what about basketball?
"Patience," Celeste said with a sigh and smile. "I learned patience. Maybe not everybody is equal skill level. So if somebody messes up, you can't yell at them because they might not be as good as you are. So you have to be patient. You have to have a lot of patience."
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