They are the players that do the dirty work. The ones in the trenches. Much like offensive linemen in football, they do the things that don’t always show up in the box score and are no less important because of it. Whether it’s rebounding, setting screens, diving for loose balls, or taking charges, teams cannot be successful without talented post players.
This coming Monday marks the twentieth anniversary of my camp for basketball bigs known as Ultimate Bigman. It’s a week I look forward to that is near and dear to my heart which started in 2003 with my friend and fellow teacher, Rodger. It is four days of hard work with one end goal, improvement.
At its conclusion kids don’t leave with trophies but rather detailed workout packets for the rest of summer. No doubt what makes the camp so special is the place where it is held, The Building II. A structure steeped in both local military and basketball history that turns one hundred this year.
Opened in 1922 as the Altoona Armory, many members of the Pennsyvania National Guard and Army that fought and died for our country during World War II and The Korean Conflict made final preparations here before boarding trains bound for troop ships. After the Armory closed, the gym was used by a local recreation commision before falling into disrepair. One man saw its potential, and in 1983 took a gamble when he decided to purchase the old building. That decision would change many lives forever, mine included.
Carl Bennett had a huge heart and it showed forth through the Building II. Simply put, there was no one quite like him. He ran his beloved business with passion that was indisputable. In 1994, he purchased the old St. Francis College floor that former pro and local legend Mike Izzulino helped the Red Flash clinch an NCAA Tournament berth on. By placing that famous floor in the former military structure Carl was able to fuse history and athletics in a most unique way.
Thousands of players since have run up and down those historic planks, including campers that attend Ultimate Bigman. There could be no more appropriate place to build the toughness and dedication needed to play either a forward or center, and, in Carl, no better person to make this camp a reality.
Summer in Central Pennsylvania can at times be oppressively hot, and, for the majority of summers that Ultimate Bigman has run, the gym has been absolutely sweltering. Water and Gatorade flow from nine in the morning until four in the afternoon.
As players from different schools battle each other in drills and competitions, a unique bond begins to grow. Individuals that came to camp as rivals or enemies develop a respect for each other that couldn’t have formed without the twelve grueling hours of training. For me, that camraderie has easily been the most enjoyable part of camp these last twenty years.
Through the years it has been amazing to see so many players that started attending camp prior to the seventh grade grow each summer and reach their potential by the time they are seniors. Many Ultimate Bigman alums have gone on to play at all levels of college basketball with a few making it to the professional ranks.
The fortitude needed to play the game of basketball is far from that needed to fight in a war. If the walls of this one hundred-year-old place could speak, I’m sure they would tell my many campers over the years what dedication and toughness really is. Hopefully, just holding camp in this hallowed hall does enough to build the grit and desire needed to be an Ultimate Bigman.
-Tommy O’Sionnach
Good story! Didn’t know that about the floors!
Best camp around!