Marcus Campbell basketball camp returns this week after 2-year hiatus
Jun. 27—When former University of Alabama men's basketball player Marcus Campbell began his annual Future Star Basketball Camp 22 years ago, his cousin Adolphus Moss was a major part in both getting it started and helping running it each summer
The last time the Sumter County, Alabama, camp took place was 2019, since the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to cancel the event in 2020 and 2021. In 2020, Moss died, and the return of the Future Star camp Thursday and Friday will help honor his memory, Campbell said.
"He was there with us from day one," Campbell said. "He was also a longtime school board member at Sumter County as well as a West Central (Alabama) official. It'll be a special camp in remembrance of him. We want to carry on, and I know he wants us to carry on, so we're looking forward to it."
The two-day camp hosts youth basketball players from grades fifth through 12th at Sumter Central High School in York, Alabama, free of charge and is designed to teach them both basketball and life skills. Registration takes place from 8 to 9 a.m. Thursday at Sumter Central, and the camp will last from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. that first day and 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday. The camp will begin and end at Sumter Central each day, and if enough campers register, some will be bussed over to Livingston Junior High School to prevent overcrowding at one location.
"This camp is for anyone and everyone from the fifth through the 12th grade, boys and girls, and they do not have to be from Alabama," Campbell said. "They can be from Mississippi or anywhere in the United States or even anywhere in the world."
Since they've been unable to host it the past two years, this will be the 20th Future Star camp, and Campbell said it felt good to once again have a chance to help develop young basketball players.
"This is a time we get to hang out with and invoke life skills in them," Campbell said. "Anyone on a basketball team has a dream to play in the NBA, the WNBA or overseas, but this time gives us a chance to mentor as well as teach basketball skills. We haven't had an opportunity to do this for two years, so I'm grateful to God for the opportunity to be back on the court."
Among those helping at the camp will be 2002 SEC Player of the Year Erwin Dudley, who played for Alabama; 18-year NBA veteran Charles Oakley, a cousin of Campbell's; and East Mississippi Community College Athletic Director and former women's basketball coach Sharon Thompson, a Sumter County High School alumna. Campbell said he also hopes to involve athletes outside of basketball as well as area church and civic leaders to help motivate the campers.
For more information, Campbell can be contacted at 205-499-6015.
