In 1974, a southern rock band by the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the song "Sweet Home Alabama", and in 2002 Reese Witherspoon played a southern bell  in the movie. Excitingly, NIKE and Elite Hoops are still singing and starting in "Sweet Home Alabama"! Over the past 5 years, Homewood High School has been Elite Hoops' sweet home of Alabama. Each year the Homewood basketball camp sells out. This year we are adding two new locations, Trussville and Vestavia Hills, as well as an addition camp at Homewood. The 2013 NIKE Basketball Camp season will start at Hewitt-Trussville High School. The following week Vestavia Hills High School will host the all girl camp, and Homewood will have camps in June and July.

Lee Miller and Michelle Manfredi will be directing camps in Alabama this summer. Also, each high school head coach will be assisting Elite Hoops. Miller will be at Hewitt-Trussville and Homewood High School. Hewitt-Trussville Varsity Boys Head Coach Zane Arnold, just finished his first season at the school. Arnold is extremely excited about reaching out to the community and fans that supports the program. Head Coach Tim Shepler of Homewood High School is no stranger to leading his teams to glory and co-directing NIKE camps. This will be his 5 consecutive year partnering with NIKE Basketball and Elite Hoops.

At the Vestavia Hills location, Manfredi will use the help of Vestavia Hills Varsity Boys Head Coach George Hatchett, and Homewood Varsity Girls Head Coach Jovanka Ward. Coach Hatchett's familiarity with the school and basketball program will make sure every camper receives the Vestavia Hills treatment. Coach Ward of Homewood understands Alabama basketball extremely well. Coaching all levels of basketball from Homewood Middle School to Alabama A&M University, Ward will happily lend us her expertise this summer.

To register for the Alabama NIKE Boys and Girls Basketball Camp, click on each locations link below.

Hewitt-Trussville High School NIKE Boys Camp click HERE

Vestavia Hills High School NIKE Girls Camp click HERE

Homewood High School NIKE Boys Camp 1 click HERE

Homewood High School NIKE Boys Camp 2 click HERE

Again ladies and gentlemen, i love this time of year! In March anything goes. Top ranked teams fight to stay on top with various team eyeing their backs. Lower rank teams are tired of being over looked and want to make a huge statement to shock the world! Honestly at this point, plays can only help you stay in the game and fight in battle. Heart and determination is the best play possible.

The play set for this week is simple....we will call it "HEART". Coaches, if you are waiting for me to break down where the point guard should start, or where players 4 and 5 need to set the screens, I'm sorry to disappoint. Today I am speaking on behalf of all the players that use these weekly play sets. Sure, I have won games with the right play at the right time. I hit my first buzzer beater off of a baseline in bound play with seconds remaining. The play to create a sense of urgency, hustle, and love for the game unfortunately has not been written yet. Players, coaches, trainers, fans, and family all have to go inside themselves and create that play and energy.

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Brandon "Lionheart" Chappell
Elite Hoops Basketball

Downtown Atlanta, GA almost never sleeps. Major television stations such as CNN, TNT, and TBS are located downtown. The Atlanta Falcons, Braves, and of course the Hawk's facilities is known as the heart of the city. Adding to the madness literally, Atlanta is hosting the 2013 NCAA Men's Final Four. Sometimes you just want to get away from the all the action, and I know just the place. If you head to North Atlanta on HWY 400, at the top you will find Saint Francis High School (STF). Last year was the first camp at STF and it was great. So great that we have added another camp for this year, an all girls camp. Two camps in the month of July away from the city sounds good to me.

STF is the perfect location for the NIKE Elite Hoops Basketball Camps. STF practices high values on and off the court daily. Michelle Manfredi will be directing both STF camps this summer, but she wont be alone. The girls camp will be co-directed by STF Varsity Girls Head Coach Aisha Kennedy. Coach Kennedy is a very knowledgeable coach with experience and poise. This year she lead her team to a 2013 Class A State Championship and received Coach of the Year in class 1A. On the boys side, Manfredi will be assisted by STF Varsity Boys Head Coach Cabral Huff. Coach Huff has had much success at STF. Since 2009, STF have made the playoffs each year, 2 Sweet 16 state appearances  a Regional Championship, and this year was seconds away from winning a State Championship. The level of basketball ball being taught this summer will be amazing!

The first camp at STF will be the girls camp starting on July 8-12, 2013. 2 weeks later the boys camp will take over July 22-26, 2013. If you want to register now for either camp please click the links below.

St Francis NIKE Girls Basketball Camp click HERE

St Francis NIKE Boys Basketball Camp click HERE

Its THAT time of year again! All my true basketball fans should know why the emphasis is on the word THAT. If not, I will explain in two words...MARCH MADNESS! Right now teams on every level are fine tuning and making the proper adjustments to win championships. Coaches, you have to be ready for the unexpected and new schemes. Players must refocus and pay closer attention to detail. Fan, scream and cheer til your face turns Kentucky blue.

Today's playset is called "Zone Buster", designed to beat a 1-2-2 zone defense. The main concept of Zone Buster is to put the defense in a mismatch position. With the defense in a 1-2-2, the offense will start with P1 and P2 at the top splitting the 1 defender. P3 on the ball side corner, P4 is on the ball side elbow and P5 is on the ball side block.

P1 passes to P2 and the defense shifts. P3 will cut baseline to opposite corner, P4 will set a screen against the defender on the ball side block for P3, P5 will cut to high post. P2 has the option for P3 in the corner or P5 at the high post. Now P2 reverses the ball back to P1 and the offense make the same exchange again. P3 back to opposite corner and P4/P5 exchange positions. P1 now looks for P4 at high post to create a mismatch. P4 has the option for P2/P3 for a shot, pass to P5 on the block, or attack basket.

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For this playset to work effectively, the offense must make the defense work. Moving the ball to shift the defense will open gaps for the offense. Every position with the ball will have a triangle option. Lets get ready to dance....MARCH MADNESS!

Brandon "The Zone Buster" Chappell
Elite Hoops Basketball

The 2013 Arkansas camp location will be in Little Rock for the second straight year, but trust me there is nothing "little" about the way we "rock" basketball there! If you think that line is catchy, we are adding a second camp at Episcopal Collegiate School for all you little rockers that want extra work. Last summer the inaugural Elite Hoops NIKE Basketball Camp in Little Rock quickly sold out, so June and July this summer will be even better.

Live by the 3...die by the 3! How many times have you heard phase in basketball? Last year during the 2011-2012 basketball season, over 500 teams across the country shot better than 38% from beyond the arc. Personally that is living pretty good, but there is always two sides to a story. That same season, more than double the amount of teams shot worst than 23% from 3 point range. I would say that is dying. My resolution to keep everything par is to have designated time in a game when a team creates an open 3 point shot for a player. Kind of like a playset!

Today's playset is appropriately called "Three 3". The play starts with your best 3 point shooter taking the ball out on the baseline (P2). P3/P5 are on each block and P1/P4 are on each elbow. At the snap of the ball, P3 cuts out to the 3 point line and must get open. Next P4 set a  cross screen for P1 to receive a pass from P3. P1 now dribbles to the top of the key. After P2 inbounds the ball, P5 will set a screen for P2 to come off for a shot on the opposite wing position. If shot is not available  P4/P3 will set a double screen for P2 to come off for a 3 point shot.

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Nashville is known for 3 things during the beautiful summer. Great music, delicious food, and the best summer basketball camps! Since 2009, Nashville and surrounding areas have partned with Elite Hoops NIKE Basketball Camps at a very high level. We are proud to announce that there will be 5 total basketball camps in the Nashville area between June 24 and August 2, 2013. Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) and Hendersonville Baptist Church have successfully sold out camps each summer of existence. In addition, we will add Goodpasture High School in Madison, TN and A Game Complex in Franklin, TN as new locations.

The success of the Elite Hoops NIKE Basketball Camps in Nashville is mostly owed to the well polished and hard work of CPA's Head Boys Varsity Basketball Coach Drew Maddux. Maddux has done a superior job with elevating the basketball play at CPA. Last season he lead his team to a 2012 AA State Championship with a 37-2 overall record. Since 2008, Maddux has over 10 district, regional, and sectional championships. Coach Maddux will be the director of all 5 camps this summer. He does a great job translating his coaching methods and philosophies at the Elite Hoops NIKE Basketball Camps.

The 2013 NIKE Basketball Camp season in Tennessee will start at Goodpasture High School from June 24-28. Next the Hendersonville Baptist Church location will be July 8-12. Then the CPA girls and boys camp will run back to back. July 15-19 for the girls and July 22-26 for the boys. Lastly, Nashiville camp season will conclude July 29-Aug 2 at A game Complex in Franklin, TN. To register  for each camp please click one of the following links below.

Goodpasture High School click HERE

Hendersonville Baptist Church click HERE

CPA Girls click HERE

CPA Boys click HERE

A Game Complex click HERE

The true object for the offense is to score as easy as possible. If a team can come down the court and make one pass to score, it would be bad basketball to make it more complicated than that. Unfortunately that never really happens. The offense has to execute a series of actions to misdirect the defense. When the all 5 offensive players work together properly, scoring can be a thing of beauty. Lights, camera, ACTION!