The ABCD Basketball Camp was a youth basketball camp founded by Sonny Vaccaro that was held from 1984 to 2006. The camp gathered the highest ranked high school players of the United States, and was considered one of the top events of high school basketball.[1][2][3][4] ABCD stood for Academic Betterment and Career Development.[5]
History[edit]
The ABCD Camp was founded in 1984 by Sonny Vaccaro and was sponsored by Nike.[6] The camp took place every year in the month of July usually lasting 4–5 days, and was held in different locations in the initial years, among which the Bren Events Center at UC Irvine in 1992[7] and at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1993[8] before moving to the Rothman Center, at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack, New Jersey, where the camp was held from 1994 until its final edition in 2006.[9]
The camp was sponsored by the corporations Vaccaro was signed to: from 1984 to 1992 Nike was the sponsor; in 1993 the camp was under the Converse brand, while from 1994 to 2003 Adidas was the sponsor.[10] After 2003, Vaccaro had a deal with Reebok[6] that lasted until the last edition of the camp in 2006.[11] Several college coaches attended ABCD Camp during their recruitment process of high school players: among them Bob Bender, Jim Boeheim, P. J. Carlesimo, Joe Harrington and Mike Krzyzewski.[9][12][13][14] NBA scouts also participated and in some cases, camp participants were drafted out of high school, for instance Kevin Garnett,[14] Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Kwame Brown, Eddy Curry, Sebastian Telfair and Gerald Green.[15]
Sponsorships[edit]
Camp MVPs[edit]
Notable players[edit]
The players mentioned have at least 1 All-Star selection in the NBA or were lottery picks in the NBA draft.
- Shareef Abdur-Rahim[17]
- Cole Aldrich[18]
- Carmelo Anthony[19]
- Gilbert Arenas[20]
- Chauncey Billups[17]
- Carlos Boozer[20]
- Chris Bosh[19]
- Kwame Brown[19]
- Kobe Bryant
- Marcus Camby[19]
- Sam Cassell[19]
- Derrick Coleman[19]
- Mike Conley[18]
- Eddy Curry[17]
- Mike Dunleavy Jr.[14]
- Jonny Flynn[18]
- Randy Foye[21]
- Kevin Garnett[17]
- Ben Gordon[22]
- Eddie Griffin[22]
- Penny Hardaway[19]
- Tim Hardaway[19]
- James Harden[18]
- Allan Houston[19]
- Dwight Howard[23]
- Juwan Howard
- LeBron James
- Brandon Jennings[18]
- DerMarr Johnson[20]
- Joe Johnson[20]
- DeAndre Jordan
- Jason Kidd
- Christian Laettner[19]
- Shaun Livingston
- Rashard Lewis
- Kevin Love
- Stephon Marbury
- Kenyon Martin[19]
- Jamal Mashburn[19]
- O. J. Mayo
- Antonio McDyess
- Tracy McGrady
- Alonzo Mourning[19]
- Jameer Nelson[22]
- Joakim Noah[23]
- Jermaine O'Neal[19]
- Shaquille O'Neal[17]
- Greg Oden
- Lamar Odom[19]
- Tony Parker[22]
- Paul Pierce[17]
- Jason Richardson[19]
- Glenn Robinson[19]
- Derrick Rose[9]
- Jalen Rose
- Jerry Stackhouse
- Damon Stoudamire
- Stromile Swift
- Wally Szczerbiak[19]
- Sebastian Telfair
- Isaiah Thomas[18]
- Tim Thomas
- Robert Traylor[17]
- Antoine Walker[19]
- Gerald Wallace[22]
- Rasheed Wallace
- Chris Webber[19]
- Chris Wilcox[22]
- Yi Jianlian[9]
References[edit]
- ^ Benezra, David; Mayemura, Mark (July 8, 2002). "ABCD Chatter: All-stars shine on final night". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ "THESE SUMMER CAMPS AREN'T JUST FOR FUN". Chicago Tribune. August 1, 1993. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Katz, Andy (August 20, 2003). "Vaccaro steps down to help ailing wife". Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Carp, Steve (July 15, 1997). "Tourney for 'Sonny's kids'". Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Mulligan, Kevin (July 13, 1988). "Nike Camp Prepares Prospects for Reality". Philadelphia Daily News. p. 80.
- ^ a b Thamel, Pete (June 24, 2007). "Marketing All-Star Is Ready to Relax". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Norwood, Robyn (July 5, 1992). "Tale of Two Camps: Nike, Entrepreneur Compete for Players : Basketball: Shoe company keeps grip on most standouts, but UC Irvine camp attracts many talented players". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ "Summer basketball camps for everyone but the kids". Daily Herald. August 15, 1993. p. 24.
- ^ a b c d Vorkunov, Mike (July 24, 2011). "With ABCD Camp gone from Fairleigh Dickinson, there's a hole in college basketball recruiting". Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Williams, Charean (April 10, 1994). "RECRUITERS FLOCK TO WATCH MAINLAND'S VINCE CARTER". The Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ "Camps make players' stock sink or soar". The Cincinnati Enquirer. July 2, 2006. p. 34.
- ^ Martin, Dan (July 9, 2001). "HIGH SCHOOL HOP; NEW STEP'S ALL THE RAGE AT ADIDAS CAMP". The New York Post. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Penner, Mike (July 8, 1992). "Wishing It Was Easy as A.B.C.D." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 20, 2019.
- ^ a b c Allen, Percy (July 13, 1997). "Dreams Can Come True At Abcd Camp". The Seattle Times. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ Francis, Clark (2004). "REEBOK ABCD CAMP HITS HOME RUN WITH OUTSTANDING YOUNG PLAYERS/5TH YEAR PLAYERS". Hoop Scoop. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ "MVPs and Players of the Week". abcdcamp.net. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Sonny's Greatest ABCD Camp Moments". abcdcamp.net. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "HOOP SCOOP'S FINAL RANKING OF THE TOP PLAYERS AT THE REEBOK ABCD CAMP (JULY 6TH, 7TH, 8TH, & (9TH)". Hoop Scoop. 2005. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "adidas ABCD Camp To Be Held July 7–11 @ FDU". socalhoops.com. July 2, 2002. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "POINT GUARDS/BIG MEN HIGHLIGHT ADIDAS ABCD CAMP". hoopscooponline.com. 1998. Retrieved March 21, 2020.
- ^ Clark, Francis (2000). "COOK EDGES OUT HODGE FOR ADIDAS ABCD CAMP MVP HONORS". Hoop Scoop. Retrieved May 25, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "HOOP SCOOP'S RANKING OF THE TOP PLAYERS AT THE ADIDAS ABCD CAMP FROM JULY 7TH, 8TH, 9TH, & 10TH". Hoop Scoop. 1999. Retrieved May 26, 2019.
- ^ a b Clark, Francis (2003). "Interesting Mix of Players Collectively Dominate adidas ABCD Camp". hoopscooponline.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2020.