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Camp is for Hudson's future

Tribune photo by Eddie Daniels

Jarrod Branco, left, who led Hudson to two playoff appearances, served as one of the clinicians during the two-day camp.

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By EDDIE DANIELS edaniels@tampatrib.com

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2009

HUDSON - The playoff rush is addictive.

You get a taste of it and there's no way you want to lose it. That's how it is for the Hudson High basketball program.

The Cobras advanced to the playoffs during the 2007-08 season, their first postseason appearance since the school opened in 1973. The team repeated the feat the following season, winning its first playoff game. The team also went 8-2 in the Sunshine Athletic Conference, its best mark since the conference was created in 1991.

To keep things headed in the right direction, Hudson boys basketball coach Jason Vetter kicked off the Hudson High School Boys Basketball Offensive Camp last week.

The two-day camp is Vetter's way of building a solid foundation in the community.

"Just trying to get more involved in the community part of this," said Vetter, who has coached the team for five seasons. "I attempted to do a camp since the summer of 2005. Now that we've had a couple of good years, I figured we could get a little more interest and start building up these kids at an earlier age. You hope you get fourth- and fifth-graders to come in here, then you see them every year and they kind of know what we do.

"And then, of course, you get the kids who don't really play a lot and are looking for something to do. That's good, too, because you get them into basketball."

Although he didn't get the numbers he would have liked - there were about 25 kids on the first day - Vetter believes this is a start.

Cole Manion, who will be in eighth grade next year, was one of the young campers who could suit up for the Cobras one day. Manion, who attended the camp with his brother, Cody, was full of energy as he displayed his point guard skills.

Not only did Manion show he could push the ball up the court and score, he also showed some defensive prowess. On the final inbound, with Manion's team ahead 17-15 and defending, Manion stole a pass to end the game.

"I thought it was a lot of fun," Manion said. "What I learned was how to shoot better, how to dribble better and how to play point guard better."

He believes he can immediately incorporate each of those aspects into his game by "picking my head up and trying to slow things down."

In addition to the middle-school players, about a dozen Hudson High players gave their time to help with the camp.

Jarrod Branco, who will play basketball at St. Augustine's Flagler College next season, helped coach a team.

That said, he wasn't his typical self.

Instead of taking wide open shots, he got each of the middle-school players involved by drawing the defense to him and then dishing the ball off. His sense of benevolence meant his total number of shots likely could have been counted on one hand.

"I like kids, I like working with them. It's fun, it's enjoyable," said Branco, who said this was his first camp where he did the teaching. "I just get a thrill out of watching them learn and showing them what I know and helping them."

If there was anyone at the camp who could pass on scoring tips, Branco was the guy. This past season, he became the Cobras' career leader in points scored. Branco's 1,476 points moved him past Brian Schmidt's 1,052 career total.

In the end, Vetter wants this camp to serve as a the unwavering foundation to his program's success.

"It's very important if you're going to sustain your success over a period of time," he said. "We all get a player like a Jarrod every now and then, and you're going to be good over a couple of years. But I think if you're going to be good every single year, it's going to be through things like this, especially here.

"What I've noticed with the male athletes, you don't get the biggest kids, you don't get the fastest athletes, so we really have to build their fundamentals and their technique at an early age. The thing about kids in this area is they work hard and they're coachable, so if we can get them in here early, it definitely helps us."

Reporter Eddie Daniels can be reached at (813) 259-7066.

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