From Counselor to Camper

Tayshaun Prince’s camp pretty much followed the routine this week, until it was time for the guest speaker. The Pistons’ fifth-year forward did the honors to open his camp Monday, followed by his teammate Rasheed Wallace and the Detroit Shock’s Swin Cash. On Thursday, it was Pistons head coach Flip Saunders. Hardly a routine lineup.

Saunders, who entertained the campers ages 8-17 with some of his customary magic tricks, focused on ballhandling drills and proper shooting technique (the two Cs and the two Rs: confidence, concentration, relaxation and range, he told them). The kids hung on his every word, eager to help demonstrate a drill or to ask a question.

Standing off to a corner of the gym was Prince, gazing upon the 160 campers he had been spending the past four days with. An hour later he would be headed to the airport for Las Vegas and a three-day minicamp with the U.S. Senior Men’s National Team. Prince has known since he was named to Team USA in May that he would have to miss the final day of his camp, which has been running at the Matthaei Gymnasium at Wayne State University. While a spot on the U.S. Olympic team looms in the balance, Prince has been addressing first things first – being a gracious camp host.

“I tried to get as much time (with the campers) as possible, a lot of fun things to do in between Monday and Thursday,” Prince said. “Rasheed, Swin Cash came in and spent some time with the kids and had interaction with them. It was a great opportunity for them and for myself, just to get more experience at doing these things because I’m going to continue to do them. It’s unfortunate I’m going to miss Friday but like I said, I’m making up for it with my time the last four days.”

This is the second summer Prince has held a camp in Detroit. He’s also adding a camp at his alma mater, the University of Kentucky, which opens next week. It sounds like the Kentucky campers won’t be disappointed.

“He’s doing a good job, he’s always interacts with the kids, as you can see,” said Micah Glenn, 11, of Detroit, pointing to Prince showing an older boy how to post up on the next court over. “He’s always interacting and helping with us with the drills. He was helping us with our drills just now. He helps you, so it’s cool.

“He’s a good teacher. He makes it better for us,” Glenn said. “He makes it fun for us to learn and to play basketball, and that’s what we’re here for.”

Prince is taking a similar approach to his Las Vegas trip, though he’ll be essentially in a tryout against some of the biggest NBA names. “My approach is just to go in there and have fun, have a good time,” he said.

After averaging nearly 100 games a season as a pro, Prince noted, his body needed more rest than court time. Shooting around with the camp counselors during lunch breaks has been the closest he’s come to a training regimen since the Pistons’ season ended. “I’ve just been at the house, just chilling, taking a back seat for a while,” he said, “because I’m always in the driver’s seat all the time.”

Though he’s hardly been a passenger on the Pistons’ ride to five Eastern Conference finals, Prince believes his versatility will allow him to fit in with any assortment of star-studded lineups Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski puts on the court. “The way I play kind of evolves to what is needed on the Olympic team,” Prince said, adding humbly, “if they need me to make it.” Seventeen of the 32 national team members will take part in the minicamp, all vying for one of the final 12 spots on the roster that will play in the 2008 Summer Games. Acknowledging the public’s disappointment with recent U.S. performances in international competition, Prince is hopeful he’ll be a part of the solution in Beijing, China. “Hopefully we can get USA Basketball back on the map,” he said.

The final roster will compete in the FIBA Americas Championship, the Olympic qualifying tournament, beginning Aug. 22, just three weeks after his Kentucky camp. “So there’s not too much time for any other social activities,” he said. “That’s why I made it real important to take it off these past six, seven weeks.”

He’ll barely have time for a nap after the minicamp. To ensure he arrives at the opening of his camp in Lexington, Ky., Prince will take the red-eye flight out of Las Vegas following the State Farm USA Basketball Challenge, an intrasquad scrimmage July 22.

“It will be the first camp down there, so it will be a great experience as far as giving back to those kids,” Prince said. “I know most of them haven’t seen me in the past five years, so it will be a great experience for them to see me down there.”

Of course, he has to get to Las Vegas first. He was running a half-hour late for the airport Thursday as he made his way through the Matthaei gym personally thanking each of his counselors. At one stop, a couple of youngsters collided for a loose ball and fell to the floor at Prince’s feet. With his arms of renowned length, Prince reached down and plucked them both off the ground.

Like any good host, Prince is happy to give his campers a lift.