Camp Pelphrey

It’s the middle of June and we’ve hit the season Razorback fans dislike the most…the off-season.  Spring football was, well, back in the spring.  The Hog baseball postseason was short-lived.  And very little news has come out of the basketball program since the hiring of John Pelphrey back in April.

But it wouldn’t be summer without camps, and last week Pelphrey and his staff kicked off the first of what should be many Razorback basketball camps to come during his tenure.  And, of course, RazorBloggers was there to cover it. 

Since becoming the head basketball coach for the Razorbacks, Pelphrey has been busy building a staff, evaluating current players, recruiting new players and taking on all the other constant demands that come with the job.

So barely two months into the job, it would seem like holding the annual basketball skills camp for kids (grades 1-9) might have to wait until next summer.  But the well-organized camp turned out to be a big hit with both campers and parents alike.

Coach Pelphrey started the first day by giving a nice motivational speech to the kids.  He then proceeded to meet and greet each and every parent, telling them how glad he was to have them and their child at his camp.  I thought it was a very classy gesture and spoke volumes of the kind of job I think he is here to do.

Throughout the three-day camp there were several ’surprise’ visits from Razorback players, including Darian Townes, Sonny Weems and Gary Irvin.  One of the highlights of day two, for example, was a low post demonstration given by Townes and assistant coach Rob Evans.

But the hit of the camp by far was Patrick Beverley.  Many of the campers were so mesmerized by Beverley being on the same court with them, they had a hard time paying attention to the coaches!

Camp finished up on Wednesday with Coach Pelphrey giving another impressive speech to the campers on the importance of using what they had learned to continue improving their basketball skills in the future.

What happened next, however, was unexpected and surely left a lasting impression on all who were there.  Coach Pelphrey turned his attention to the parents in attendance and gave a very moving speech on how honored he was to be the head coach of the Arkansas Razorbacks.  He talked about how he and his teams were going to work hard to put a product on the floor that would make Razorback fans proud.  And, of course, he again thanked all the parents for bringing their kids to the camp.

I don’t know how we did it — especially considering all the blundering and bad press surrounding the process — but I think we hired a real winner with John Pelphrey.  And I bet you won’t find anyone who ‘went camping’ in Bud Walton Arena last week who would disagree.