Venturing to Canada’s East Coast to host a basketball camp, Dillon Brooks is helping to shape his home country’s basketball evolution.
I hail from Halifax; a lower-medium-sized port city in Nova Scotia on Canada’s East Coast. We are primarily known in sports circles as the home of NHL stars Sidney Crosby, Nathan MacKinnon and Brad Marchand. If you are an NBA fan who has never heard of us, I cannot really blame you.
Despite our hockey heritage, Halifax has also played host to a number of high-profile basketball events, like FIBA World Cup qualifiers. The city has — almost annually — hosted the CIS (formerly CIAU) Basketball Championships; essentially Canada’s Final Four.
The Toronto Raptors even played their first-ever game here. They have returned several times — both to face the then-Vancouver Grizzlies in the short-lived Naismith Cup, and for a duo of training camps in 2012 and 2013.
Which is all to say, for a city that stands zero chance of landing its own NBA team, we have shown a lively basketball pulse. Our hoops scene is supported by a strong community with deep roots in the game.
Despite this, few Nova Scotians had ever ventured near the realms of the NBA Draft. Iowa State’s Lindell Wigginton has recently emerged as an NBA prospect from Halifax, and if the Memphis Grizzlies’ Dillon Brooks has his way, others will soon join him.
Brooks — an Ontario native — is actively investing in Halifax’s basketball future. Along with fellow Canadian NBAer Khem Birch, the Memphis Grizzlies’ sophomore-to-be hosted an Elite Basketball Camp in Halifax this past weekend.
The two-day camp featured some of the area’s best coaches, and an emphasis on both skills and work ethic. As Dillon Brooks recently told Beale Street Bears‘ Christian Dudley on his Memphis camp, “being a great teammate, respecting each other, defense, passing, shooting, spacing, dribbling, discipline, and hard work” are promoted.
Those involved with the camp came away with a great experience. Mat MacDonald is an assistant with the men’s program at Saint Mary’s University, where the camp was held. He was also on hand as one of the camp’s coaches.
Says MacDonald, “ liked the interaction with the NBA guys, but in general, they really seemed to just work as hard as they possibly could regardless of who was watching.”
MacDonald found a wide range of camper skills “from beginners all the way up to teenagers who were developing their game towards the high level.” He has an eye for such talent, as head bench boss for the Nova Scotia U15 team that recently took bronze at Canadian nationals.
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Even if — contrary to the camp’s name — not all players were “elite,” competitive spirit still inspired the best. As MacDonald notes “it really showed when you see NBA guys turn their heads and take a few moments just to watch and kind of admire — I believe — that grit that they see in these kids.”
The choice to hold the camp in Halifax speaks not only to Brooks’ ties to the area, but MacDonald believes a growing presence for Nova Scotia: “The people know where Nova Scotia is, realize that it’s growing, and realize that there are some elite and contending players and coaches on the East Coast,” states MacDonald.
In Halifax, what has always been a bustling basketball scene is beginning to rise with the high tide of Canadian hoops. Canada currently fields the most international NBA players with 39, a number that only figures to grow if efforts like Dillon Brooks’ continue.
And such is the plan. According to The Star Halifax, Brooks’ intent is to make the camp an annual event; one that can truly foster the growth of its campers.
Dillon Brooks will soon return to Tennessee for the Memphis Grizzlies’ training camp, looking to build on a rookie campaign that revealed one of the 2017 Draft’s biggest steals. As his own career blossoms, he will be doing his part to ensure that Canada and Halifax’s basketball presences — like the skills of his campers — reach new heights.