Paul Pierce Skills Academy: Discussing Paul Pierce's Star-Studded Camp

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

The 2009 Paul Pierce Skills Academy was held on the campus of Brandeis University, where I am a rising senior basketball player.

Before the camp began, my coach asked me if I would help out and allowed me to spend time working to set up the camp and to watch three days of incredibly high-quality basketball.

When my coached asked me to help out with the camp, I had no idea the level of play I was going to witness. Little did I know that I'd be working for a camp that boasted some of the best high school players in the country and some very good college players, too.

I did not watch much of the college players' action because, being familiar with most of the college players already, I wanted to see more of the high school guys who I knew nothing about.

Before I talk about the play, I want to talk about what the gym looked like. Nike set up the gym almost as a Paul Pierce shrine—there were posters of him hanging from the ceiling and on the walls. It was pretty cool how the whole gym was transformed for Paul's benefit.

Now, let's get to the good stuff: the play. The camp was divided into two parts—the collegiate players and high school players. Each of the groups had two workout sessions, one in the morning, then one in the late afternoon.

This year’s collegiate participants were headlined by Greivis Vasquez of Maryland, Manny Harris of Michigan, E’Twaun Moore of Purdue and Patrick Christopher of California.

Instead of those guys, though, a rising senior out of Siena named Edwin Ubiles stole the show. A long, fluid, 6'6" small forward, Ubiles showed me more than any of the more highly touted players from the power conferences. After seeing him excel in the drills, I truly expect Ubiles to be drafted and be a productive NBA player.

At the college level, this year’s crop of talent wasn’t quite as good as last year’s. Last year, James Harden of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tyreke Evans of the Sacramento Kings, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors all played at the camp.

I understand that a few players from this year’s camp will get selected in the 2010 NBA draft; but there is no chance there will be four top 10 selections.

The high school participants, though, were the cream of the high school basketball crop, headlined by the nation's top player, Harrison Barnes from Ames, Iowa. Also participating in the camp were Andre Dawkins (committed to Duke) from Chesapeake, Va., Daniel Bejarano (committed to Texas) from Phoenix, Ariz., and James Bell (committed to Villanova) from Orlando, Fla.

These talented young studs were taught what it takes to become successful at the next level. Barnes lived up to his billing as the top-ranked player in the high school class of 2010, dominating both the drills and the scrimmages.

Dawkins was also a headliner, as a certain NBA assistant coach in attendance at the camp said Dawkins could already contribute to most NBA teams. It's amazing to see just how developed these high school players are—they still have a long ways to go before reaching their potential, but already exhibit amazing physical prowess at such a young age.

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