Eli Ruiz | Democrat New SUNY Sullivan men’s basketball coach Brent Wilson and recently-hired assistant Blake Metcalf greet the 50-plus boys and girls attending the weeklong Generals Basketball Camp.

Big turnout for Generals hoops camp

Story by Eli Ruiz
LOCH SHELDRAKE — July 30, 2013 — From Monday to Friday last week SUNY Sullivan held their Generals Basketball Camp. The five-day program culminated on Friday with participants split into several groups competing against each other.
“Today is games day,” said new Sullivan Generals coach Brent Wilson. “Throughout the week, we do a lot of station work where the kids will work on ball handling, shooting, passing and basic fundamentals of basketball. But Friday’s kind of our fun day so we play a lot of games.”
Held by the college each summer, the camp runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and attracts kids from all over Sullivan County schools, ages 8-15.
With past camps attracting between 30 and 35 youngsters, this year coach Wilson said, “As of Monday we had 35 kids registered for camp, then that morning 20 additional kids just showed up. I think that’s a good problem to have. This is great for these kids.”
Great indeed, as 14-year-old Brandon Worden of Tri-Valley says, “It’s he best. It’s not just fun but it’s also helpful for my skills. It really has made me better.”
Wilson had some help, though, as his new assistant Blake Metcalf was also on-hand helping out during the week. Metcalf, a recent SUNY Albany grad, brings a winning attitude to Sullivan, as well as his success as a player – Metcalf and his Albany Danes made it into the NCAA Division I tournament’s round of 64 last year where they lost to Duke.
Asked about his experience last season, Metcalf said, “Unbelievable, it’s just something I’ll never forget.”
Fallsburg High School basketball coach and 2013 Sullivan County Democrat Coach of the Year Pete Dworetsky also volunteered his time last week, and said, “I think Brent has done a fantastic job here so far. He’s really excited for next season and knows people are looking for big things out of this program.”
“The whole goal is to try to get the community involved in not just the basketball program here, but also in the skill development of our kids,” offered SUNY Sullivan athletics director Chris DePew. “Anything that we can do to promote that, we’re willing to do.”
As for his new head basketball coach, DePew says, “[He’s] doing an amazing job here. We’ve got a lot of plans in place moving forward. We are going to try to do this [basketball camp] a little more often, as well as one-day clinics during the season. I’m just really excited with what’s going on and the fact that these kids can benefit from it.”