Chicago Got Game hoops camp brought together top prep athletes from three of Chicago’s preeminent basketball programs. Varsity members from Hales Franciscan, Holy Trinity and St. Francis de Salle participated in three days of leadership training, goal setting, networking and court skills development. From August 16-18, 2010 campers learned the keys to success from current college basketball players, business leaders and NBA executives.

The camp was designed by Jamie Adams and Patrick Miller, heavily-recruited varsity star athletes at Hales Franciscan, a private Catholic high school. Patrick and Jamie are successful Moneythink mentees who wanted to connect high school varsity athletes with great role models, including NBA players and executives, college athletes, and minority business leaders from Chicago’s inner-city. Jamie and Patrick believed that this opportunity for connection and collaboration was a key formative experience for the athletes, who benefited from discovering the personal stories of perseverance, ambition and hard work from these fantastic role models.

Current college basketball players led campers in drills and shared their experiences as collegiate athletes. Camp counselors came from the varsity squads at the University of Chicago and Redlands College. The camp consisted of five discussions led by notable NBA executives and business leaders, six drill sessions and a break-out session to discuss goal-setting. The University of Chicago was so impressed with Chicago Got Game’s format and vision that it granted $2,000 in seed funding to launch the camp.

Chicago Got Game is the first business launched by Moneythink’s entrepreneurship program. Hales Franciscan students received twice weekly instruction in business fundamentals, goal-setting and leadership. For their final project, Jamie Adams and Patrick Miller pitched a basketball camp to inspire top South Side athletes. Moneythink mentors and classmates worked to improve the business plan in preparation for the Moneythink Young Entrepreneur’s Conference. Patrick and Jamie’s presentation at MYEC earned them top honors from the panel of business leaders and educators.

Chicago Got Game was directed by Greg Nance, Dustin Popiel and Mike Casey.

Chicago Got Game’s guest speakers:

- Randy Brown, Assistant General Manager and former Director of Player Development for the Chicago Bulls and 3-time NBA Champion

- Gene Dibble, Managing Director for Early Stage Venture Partners and former Duke University basketball player. Prior to founding ESVP, Gene held many prominent positions for the City of Chicago and Clear Channel Entertainment

- Kathryn Volzer, Assistant Director of Admissions and Athletics Liaison, University ofChicago

- Ian Mahoney, Ian Mahoney is Vice President of Marketing for Ion Media and has served as Marketing Manager for the Chicago Bulls and Director of Basketball Administration for the New York Knicks. He is in his 7th season as the Assistant Varsity Basketball Coach for University High School.

- Donna Gaines, Executive Director of The Alliance of Business Leaders and Entrepreneurs (ABLE). ABLE was founded in 1992 and is comprised of a select group of leading African American CEOs in Chicago that provide proactive mentoring and outreach.

~posted by Greg Nance

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