PGC Basketball camp teaches skills and mental approach

Sophomore Joshua Deng placed his backpack on the floor, took out his notebook and pen and sat down at a desk in his summer camp’s classroom. Like many students who attended summer classes, Deng spent his mornings diligently jotting down notes and listening to his teacher’s lectures.   

But these lectures were about pick and roll plays, zone defense and man-to-man defense.

This summer, Deng, along with sophomore Jonathan Cai, junior Noah Quanrud and other students, attended the Point Guard College (PGC), a five-day basketball camp at the University of Santa Barbara.

PGC aims to use the classroom and the basketball court to teach players about the mentality that great basketball players have. Students focus on maturity, patience and strategy.

“I learned a lot about being a leader and the certain qualities I should exemplify on and off the court,” Deng said.

PGC has increased in popularity since its owner, Dick DeVenzio, released the book “Stuff Good Basketball Players Should Know.” It is now one of the top basketball camps in the world.

The camp is essentially an in-depth version of everything the book teaches, with on-court demonstrations. There are three two-hour classroom sessions in the five-day-long camp during which athletes learn techniques in a classroom, which are then applied during three two-hour court sessions.

Many coaches have begun telling their players about the camp.

“I heard about it from an email sent by a parent of a varsity basketball player,” Deng said. “It sounded exciting, so I decided to try it out.”

Students leave PGC with a completely different perspective on basketball, Deng said.

“It’s not like the typical amateur basketball camp,” Cai said. “It goes further and more in depth by teaching techniques that a few basketball players know.”

Quanrud thinks that PGC increased his basketball IQ and made him a better contributor to the varsity team.

“They taught me to understand basketball in even more detail,” Quanrud said. “I learned how to stay aggressive and focused on just doing my job on the court.”

Not only does PGC teach athletes about basketball, but it also teaches them about persevering through life’s challenges. By teaching its participants to not only accept but to seek out challenges, the camp transforms participants into mature workers who cannot wait to overcome their next obstacle, Quanrud said,

PGC left a lasting impression on a great number of its campers. Many athletes who went to PGC said they would want to go again.

“PGC gave me plenty of valuable knowledge and tools that help me not only as a basketball player, but also as a person,” Deng said. “I would definitely do it again.”