Warriors Basketball Camp Comes to Thrilling Conclusion

The first annual Vaughn Warriors basketball camp came to a successful end after high school and college-aged campers had spent the week-long program refining their skills, increasing their knowledge of the game, and learning how to play as a team. At the close of the program, five campers were named the 2013 camp champions.

The campers had the opportunity to practice and compete as if they were college athletes. Throughout the week, the staff simulated the type of training the Vaughn Warrior athletes go through in preparation for the season. Each morning began with a dynamic warm-up, which led to full court drills. The campers worked on individual skills through six different stations, that highlighted specific sets of skills including offense, defense, rebounding, dribbling, agility and shooting.

In addition to skill training, the staff created six teams after an "open run" style of play to create evenly matched teams. From there, campers played regular season games as well as playoffs, where teams were seeded based on their regular season record.
The championship game consisted of the Warriors, coached by Ricky McCollum, director of athletics, fitness and wellness, and the Monstars, coached by Ray McKie, a camp instructor and former Daniel Webster College basketball player. The Warriors finished undefeated with a 6-0 record, giving them the one seed. The Monstars had a 5-1 record losing to the Warriors by two points. This led to an intense championship, as the teams were evenly matched. The game was a "nip and tuck" affair, as both teams traded baskets throughout the game. In the end, the Monstars gained a two point advantage late in the game and ended camp with a thrilling 34-33 victory over the Warriors.

As camp concluded, Jerima DeWese, assistant vice president and dean for student affairs crowned our 2013 Vaughn Warriors camp champions with medals and custom-made snap back hats. McCollum presented two individual awards - Most Improved Player to Mar'kiel Bowen, and Most Valuable Player to Michael Pena.
Vaughn College is hosting a second week of basketball camp from August 5 to August 9.  For more information regarding the camp, email athletics@vaughn.edu or call 718.429.6600 Ext. 314.