Youth basketball camp builds skills on court and off court

IVCC’s youth basketball camp has become a tradition in the Stokes family, passed down from father Trent to son Gavin. Lessons they have learned there stick with them.

Those lessons not only boosted Trent's successful high school and college court careers, but he still applies them now that he coaches.

"The camps gave me a lot of knowledge for the game, and that -- along with game experience and picking coaches’ brains through the years – has helped me as assistant coach with my son’s team,” Trent said.

He realized early on that “I’m pretty good at this” game, and signed up for hometown camps in Mendota too. “It was fun playing and seeing how I could play with other kids. I got better and went to bigger camps and met kids from all over the area. We all hung out and liked playing the game.”

He studied all the different coaching styles, too. Ultimately, “I came out well-rounded as a player, physically and mentally.”

He was good enough to play varsity as a high school sophomore, and achieved all-state honors his senior year at Mendota High. He played two years as an IVCC Eagle, and remembers defeating tougher top- ranked opponents.

In college, former high school rivals become teammates – and friends. “I was playing with guys I was used to playing against, and you don’t always like the guys you play against! But I got to know them – it was a good experience!”

Even in his career as an assistant plant manager, he credits his athletic experience for instilling valuable skills such as teamwork and discipline.

Gavin, 13, has been attending the IVCC camp since third grade. He says they’ve given him a chance to make new friends, sharpen his defensive strategy, and inspired him to stretch his athletic capabilities. A valuable lesson absorbed is to review potential plays in his head and visualize his actions.

“College camps are more of a challenge. There’re a lot of different drills I haven’t done before,” he said. The IVCC camp gives him a chance to meet the Eagles teammates who assist in the drills and has sharpened his skills for the annual Elks Hoop Shoot, a competition in which his father once earned a state ranking.

The just-ended 2024 IVCC camp wrapped up a resounding year for Gavin, whose Oglesby Washington School team had ended the season second in the state. The team went undefeated for two years until it lost the state championship by three points in double overtime.

Gavin's passion for the game came early. “He’s a lot more driven than I was. He has the ability, and he wants to get better,” his dad said. Trent remembers playing out in the driveway with his then 3-year-old. “Here was Gavin dribbling two basketballs at once. People were stopping to watch!”

Though their camps were decades apart, Trent and Gavin were both awestruck when they entered the IVCC gym for the first time. “It was overwhelming!” Trent remembers, adding “and then seeing guys older than me and thinking, ‘Man, I’m not going up against them, am I?!’”

The annual IVCC camp is sponsored by the college’s Men’s Basketball program. For information on the program, contact Head Coach Chris Herman at Chris_Herman@ivcc.edu or 815-224-0593.