Arizona stars lend hand at camp

Adam Candee

Thursday, June 12, 2003 | 9:55 a.m.

The days of being the starry-eyed admirer in a sweaty oversized T-shirt and gym shorts do not seem that long ago to Andre Iguodala.

As a youngster in Springfield, Ill., the University of Arizona basketball phenom remembers when he went to Kevin Gamble's basketball camp and gawked at the big stars. Now, Iguodala and Wildcats teammate Channing Frye are the ones that the little guys and girls stare at in amazement as they take part in Durango High School's youth basketball camp this week.

"The kids admire us a lot, so we just want to give back to them," Iguodala said.

What they have found is a group of advanced youngsters, as well as some decent runs with local players after the campers leave for the day. And according to the authorities on the subject, the talent gap is rapidly closing.

"Now, these kids are so much better than we were," Frye said. "We were more like, just shooting the ball, having fun, being like kids."

The la-di-da days of youth basketball are fading fast as Wunderkinds like LeBron James and his $90 million shoe contract raise the stakes of early hoops success.

"The kids are playing at a younger age and it's more organized," Iguodala said. "They're more serious about it, too."

As the highly popular Krispy Kreme donuts and adidas duffle bags are raffled at day's end to 10-year-old Durango campers, however, the innocence remains for a bit. About 100 kids are playing in Durango's camp this week and, thanks to Blazers coach Al LaRocque's longtime ties to Arizona coach Lute Olson, they get to literally look up to the 6-foot-10 Frye and 6-6 Iguodala. LaRocque played for Olson many years ago at Long Beach State.

"The kids don't want to see me," LaRocque joked. "They just enjoy the limelight of the college kids."

A longtime prep basketball coach, LaRocque also notices what Iguodala and Frye see -- the influence of streetball and overall exposure to basketball have these kids playing a different game than ever before.

"I've just seen that evolution over the last 20 years," LaRocque said. "Kids are becoming more athletic. I don't know if it's just because of the TV exposure or the emphasis put on it. Like I told you, we don't watch any of those (And 1) Mix tapes here, but the kids watch them and they try to duplicate those moves and they try to emulate their idols."

Frye and Iguodala played significant roles in Arizona's run to the Elite Eight of the NCAA tournament last season, a run that included the thrilling 96-95 double-overtime victory against Gonzaga that made its way to ESPN Classic just days after the game.

"Every time I look at the highlights, it makes me tired just thinking about it," Frye said.

An Arizona hometown hero from Phoenix, the lanky Frye played 43 minutes in that win, scoring 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds. Iguodala came off the bench for 16 minutes and hit a key 3-pointer.

"It was just an amazing game," Frye said. "It wasn't who was better and who was worse. It was just about who wanted it more."

Iguodala signed with Arkansas out of high school. But when coach Nolan Richardson left the program amid turmoil, Iguodala successfully earned a release from his letter of intent and signed with Arizona.

Iguodala thinks that recruits who sign with a team and then have that coach leave -- such as Reno High star David Padgett experienced this year with Kansas -- should not be locked into their letters of intent.

"They get that special bond with the coach and then the coach decides to leave, they feel like everything's gone," Iguodala said. "So they have to restart the whole situation again, just get used to another coach, one they might not feel comfortable with. So I feel that they should be given another chance, per se, to look at other schools."

Iguodala and Frye, who are staying with Wildcats team manager and Durango graduate Jack Murphy, receive about $200 for their week's work.