Chris Paul Elite Camp 2010, Day One

By Marcus Shockley

The Chris Paul Elite Guard Camp is exactly what it sounds like: a high intensity skills camp designed to work specifically on the skills needed to be an elite point guard, not just at the college level but beyond.

This event is a no-nonsense camp not intended to showcase players, but to work strictly on their game. Chris Paul immerses himself and the attendees in all-out workouts, and the pace is fast, with only a couple of minutes per drill before switching to a new drill.

The court is divided into college and high school players, and on the college side is a bevy of known stars and up and coming players. Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and Seth Curry from Duke, along with incoming UNC freshman Kendall Marshall and Harrison Barnes. Wake guard and local star CJ Harris is also in attendance, as well as Durand Scott (Miami), Brandon Triche (Syracuse), “Scoop” Jardine (Syracuse), and Kemba Walker (UConn). I’ll go more into the college players in a future post. It’s important to note the presence of Kyle Singler and Harrison Barnes, forwards working their butts off in a point guard camp.

Harrison Barnes high release is nearly indefensible by a guard, with Barnes’ 6’8″ size and high release getting off shots easily.

The first night features a single workout session and my focus was primarily on the high school players, and I’ll be posting more about several key recruits in attendance including Rodney Purvis (PG, 6’3″, 2013), Marquis Rankin (PG/SG, 6’0″, 2011) and Bishop Daniels (PG, 6’2″, 2011) as well as many more which I’ll cover in more detail. Rankin has committed to Virginia Tech.

The camp is intensely instructive, with coaches giving constant instruction to players on position, footwork and most notably defense. Although scouting players isn’t as accurate after these workouts as their legs tire, there was still much to glean from the first night.

One highlight of the camp was watching Harrison Barnes working out in drills with Chris Paul, and one on one with Chris Paul taking part, going against Kendall Marshall and several other players.

Quinn Cook (PG, 6’1″, 2011) was unable to participate in the first night of workouts because he tweaked his ankle the previous night in a summer league game. He said he felt confident he could participate the next day and was icing his ankle.