Ever wanted to shoot a three-pointer like Chicago Bulls legend Craig Hodges? This weekend, Naperville-area kids will have the chance to learn just that.
Hodges, part of the Bulls’ NBA championship teams in 1991 and ’92, will be hosting a basketball camp Saturday and Sunday at Shoot 360 Naperville, working directly with young athletes on shooting mechanics, skill development and game-focused challenges.
“It’s exciting because as a former player and as a basketball guy, it’s just great to always be around somebody with so much experience and so much knowledge and expertise,” said Jarrett Starwood, general manager for Shoot 360 Naperville.
Shoot 360 is a basketball training facility that offers traditional coaching and specialized technology aimed at helping athletes improve skills like shooting and passing. The company has more than 50 locations, but the one in Naperville is the only one in Illinois. They work with local high schools like Metea Valley and Waubonsie Valley, Starwood said.
The upcoming basketball camp is also not Starwood’s first time meeting Hodges. Last year, Starwood and the former Bulls player were spotlighted by FOX 32 Chicago to talk about Shoot 360 and the business’ technology, which is similar to what is used for training in the NBA and WNBA.
“It was pretty humbling. I remember him as a player when I was young and he’s extremely down to earth,” said Starwood, who played basketball at Waubonsie Valley High School and Waubonsee Community College.
Growing up, Starwood remembers watching the legendary Chicago Bulls in the 1990s when the team was led by Michael Jordan. He remembers Hodges as an always reliable player.
“You had a couple players in the NBA that you knew, typically, didn’t miss when they caught the ball so that’s always a lasting effect,” Starwood said. “When (Hodges) caught the ball, he was going in.”
That dependability helped the Bulls land two of their six championship wins. Hodges twice led the NBA in three-point percentages for a season and won the three-point shooting contest at the All-Star game three times, once making 19 in a row.
Shooting mechanics will be a focus of this upcoming camp since that’s Hodges’ specialty, but attendees will also work on other areas, including footwork, defense, ball-handling and basketball IQ training.
The camp itself is geared more towards those in middle and high school, though Starwood said younger kids can sign up if they are able to keep up with the skills being practiced at the camp.
“We’ll lean heavily on Craig with the shooting aspect of it. Couple it with the technology that we have within the gym, we expect it to be a great camp,” Starwood said.
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