MILWAUKEE — Learning life lessons on the court, that's the mission for a local basketball camp geared towards middle school students.
Since February, middle school students show up to the Northcott Neighborhood House to learn from professional basketball player Marcus Landry.
The basketball camp for at-risk youth goes far beyond mastering skills, it allows the players to learn discipline and respect while doing what they love.
For recent Milwaukee High School Graduate Quinton Murrell basketball has provided many opportunities to grow as a man and a player.
He worked on his craft which landed him a full ride basketball scholarship to Grambling State, but Saturday morning he was not only running through drills, but also helping the younger men.
"You never know what a kid is going through so this (camp) is like an opportunity for them to get away from that for a couple of hours and be around something positive," Murrell said.
West Care Regional Vice-President and founder of the camp Travis Landry put together this camp for at risk youth for many reasons.
"A lot of young men live with single parent mothers, so we try to be a mentor through basketball and just teach them how live day by day," Landry said.
Landry said he wants to provide an outlet for the young men to learn skills on and off the court.
"We teach them to be a leader and be who you are so when you get into high school people can follow you," Landry said.
For the mentors and players it's more than just hitting that jumper, it's about helping young men reach their full potential one dribble at a time.
The basketball camp comes to an end in June, but Landry said there will be different ways they will engage the youth over the summer.
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