EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Five Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s and women’s basketball teams and 90 children from the Evansville community participated in the first annual Deaconess GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament Youth Clinic, which took place Friday between the two quarterfinal sessions of the 2013 Deaconess GLVC Basketball Championship Tournament at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
All four men’s semifinalists, including Bellarmine University, Drury University, University of Southern Indiana, and University of Wisconsin-Parkside, joined USI’s women’s basketball team on the Ford Center floor, teaching basketball fundamentals to Evansville’s youth through a variety of different stations, including dribbling, shooting, and footwork.
“We have a belief in our program that good players and good people, they do their job; like in basketball, you rebound, you defend, or you pass,” said Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport. “But extraordinary people and extraordinary players make others better, and that was our guys’ goal to come and make somebody better today.”
In line with the NCAA Division II philosophy, the GLVC is committed to the classroom, championships, and the community. GLVC student-athletes understand there is more to just putting on a jersey and playing for 40 minutes, something Luke Reigel of UW-Parkside stressed Friday during the clinic.
“There aren’t any egos in Division II,” said Reigel, the 2013 GLVC Coach of the Year. “They have to ride buses six hours… eight hours, so when they get to do stuff in the community, whether it’s reading to kids or running a basketball clinic, they enjoy it.”
The clinic was a collaborative effort of the GLVC, the Evansville Sports Corporation, and presenting sponsors Vectren, Heritage Federal Credit Union, Mulzer Crushed Stone, Inc., and Sell My Tees.
2013 GLVC Tournament Youth Clinic Gallery
“It’s a great day of basketball, but there’s so many things that go along with a tournament like this, (such as) getting the community involved. These kids are having a ball,” said USI head women’s coach Rick Stein. “Student-athletes in the Great Lakes Valley Conference understand there’s more to it than just your sport or winning and losing.”
Drury’s Alex Hall, a first-team All-GLVC selection and clinic instructor, stressed the importance of giving back as he reflected back to when he was younger and participated in youth clinics.
“All of us kids grew up doing the same thing,” he said. “Growing up I always wished I could give back to the kids and this is a great feeling. I can speak for all of the other guys that this is a blessing.”
Following the hour-long clinic, the participants enjoyed food and drink vouchers from the Ford Center and were seated courtside for the 6 p.m. quarterfinal contest between the top-seeded Lewis women and No. 8 seed Missouri S&T. In addition, four students were selected to be “ball persons” for the GLVC Championship games on Sunday.