ALTON – Youngsters can learn many things through sports. What it's like to be on a team. How to work to achieve your goals. Learning about the positive aspects of being involved with others and the community.
Three well-known basketball brothers – Luke, Cody and Tyler Zeller – and their family realized this and put together an organization called DistinXion in 2009 to help teach character and sporting skills. The organization came to Alton Thursday for the first of a three-day basketball camp at Alton High School; the camp will have sessions at 5 p.m. today and 9 a.m. Saturday at the AHS gym.
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“We knew Jeff Alderman (AHS' athletic director) here at Alton; his son and daughter were interns for us at DistinXion during their time in the summers,” said Abe Schwartz, who is DistinXion's basketball development coach and is running the camp in Alton. “We love coming to towns like this and helping out the community any way we can. We know they love basketball here and they want to become champions on and off the court.”
The Zeller brothers each were named Indiana Mr. Basketball – the state's top individual basketball honor – during their playing days at Washington (Ind.) High School. Luke went on to play at Notre Dame and in international professional leagues as well as the NBA Development League and with the NBA's Phoenix Suns before retiring form pro basketball, while Tyler played at North Carolina and spent two years with the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers before being traded to the Boston Celtics; he helped the Celtics reach this year's NBA Eastern Conference Finals before being eliminated by the Cavaliers and Cody played at Indiana, playing for the Hoosiers for two years before being drafted by the NBA's Charlotte Bobcats (now the Charlotte Hornets) in the 2013 NBA Draft, being named to the NBA's All-Rookie team for the 2013-14 season.
The camps teach more than basketball skills. “We noticed – everyone does – you see so many kids go into college sports,” Schwartz said - “so many go into college basketball and the NBA. Many of them want to, not many will get there. We want them to become anything they can be – anything they want to become.
“We use basketball drills as a way to teach character, as a way to become a champion, that they can become those doctors and teachers for the next generation. The reality is most of these kids will not become pro athletes; they'll be professional in something other than sports. We just love the fact that we can teach these kids just anything; if we can each them one thing about being more honest with their parents or being more honest with their teachers, we feel like we did our job.”
Schwartz was a manager for two years under former Indiana coach Tom Crean. “I loved it,” Schwartz said. “He (Crean) taught me a lot of discipline and taught me how to become a leader. I grew up watching Indiana basketball and since being in college, I realized what Indiana high school basketball means to the state. It has great kids that end up becoming doctors; I'm just so excited for whatever I can do to help out and I look forward to what we can do to fulfill the next generation.
“What I see is the potential in what they don't see in themselves and coach Crean brought that out of me. What I really like is being able to see the potential in others and show them that and let them run with it. Once the kids see their potential and they get confident in themselves, there are so many things that can be achieved that they don't really know.”
The DistinXion camp is being sponsored locally by Calvary Baptist Church of Alton, the Alton Area Optimist Club, the AHS athletic department and TheBANK of Edwardsville. For more information on the organization, visit their web site at www.distinxion.org.
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