Turner still takes part in the drills with the kids
By Steve Williams
Elston Turner said there were no basketball camps when he was young and remembers Clifford Ross taking him to a camp at the University of Louisville in Kentucky when he was a youngster.
Back in the mid-1980s, Turner started his summer youth camp and he has been returning to his alma mater, Austin-East, the last week in July ever since.
“I think I’ve been at 38 of the camps,” Turner said last Wednesday. “I had to miss one or two.
“This is where I grew up. This is where I want to teach. When I look at the kids here, I see myself.
“I said to myself a long time ago: If I make it, I’m going to come back and I’m going to provide as much information as I can so they can make it.”
Nearly 100 youngsters overall participated in this year’s camp, with the younger boys and girls on the court Monday through Wednesday and the older group up to 18 years old attending Thursday through Saturday.
“I have gone to camps before and I’ve seen the orchestrator of the camp do the opening and they go disappear and then come back and do the closing,” recalled Turner.
“So I said to myself, ‘I’m going to be out here. I’m going to open. I’m going to do the drills. I’m going to run up and down the floor with you. You’re going to see me, you’re going to touch me, ask me questions. And basically to show them, if I can do it, they can do it.”
Turner, 65, is hardly ever out of sight at his camps.
It’s easy to see basketball is still in Elston’s blood. From leading Austin-East to a state championship in 1977 to helping lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Final Four of the NBA playoffs this past season, Turner is still coaching and teaching the game he loves.
Turner’s camp also includes life lessons.
“We have a session after lunch when we give them a lecture and it’s all about life lessons,” said Elston. “It’s not basketball during that segment. At different times, you can parallel sports, especially basketball, with real life skills. But we’re always bringing that to their attention. Jeff Tate does a state FOCUS and we have Pastor Miller here teaching what he teaches and then me. I’m big on it.
“I always tell them, bottom line, live your life so your autograph is wanted, not your finger prints,” said Elston.
Turner said he is on contract to be back as the defensive coordinator for the Timberwolves for a couple more seasons the Lord willing.
