MACON, Ga. — Basketball teams use the summer time to tune up their squads and get ready for the upcoming basketball season. Several teams put some work in at Mercer's team camp this weekend.
Putting a team together is no small task. Ask any high school head coach and they'll tell you good team chemistry only comes with experience.
"Just camaraderie, get them to play as many games as possible, put them under duress where they're used to playing back-to-back-back. Then when it comes to the season, the season is easier for them," said Jones County head coach, Buck Harris.
Mercer's team camp over the weekend was the perfect opportunity for several Central Georgia teams to evaluate where they are and how they can get better. Mary Persons coach Greg Nix said it's also a good chance to just see his kids interact away from the floor.
"The big thing is being together. I like watching our team on the bus on the way to games. Sitting in the bleachers while they wait to play and then once we get to playing they've been working hard and playing together and trying to get better," Nix said.
Teams are trying to get better but so are local referees. Mercer's camp also operates as a GHSA referee's camp where evaluator Rickey Crawford gets rookies ready for the season.
"They get a tier rating. Tier rating and they have to attend this camp to be playoff eligible," Crawford said.
The ultimate goal is getting kids to the next level. Mercer men's coach Greg Gary and his staff use the camp to evaluate kids and build connections with coaches.
"It's all about that. It really is. The better we can recruit, and I love recruiting Georgia guys, the more we can get exposed to them and see them, the better evaluations we get and then we want to get them to Mercer," Gary said.
Gary and the Bears will also have a day camp for kindergartners through 12th graders, June 28th to July 1st.