Stars align to help youth

Published 5:23 pm Saturday, March 26, 2016

Basketball stars were on hand at Mike Duman’s used car superstore in Suffolk on Saturday as part of a meet-and-greet autograph session.

Mike Duman hosted a gathering of former professional and college basketball stars on Saturday at his used car superstore for a meet and greet designed to help bring in more young people to register for a basketball skills and drills clinic that will be held this week in Suffolk. The former players will help run the clinic. Front row, from left: Mike Duman, Kemorie Gay, Michael Britt’s nephew; middle row, from left: Timothy Stanfill, Diego McCoy, David Wingate and Mike Daniels; back row, from left: Angelo Scott, Joel Copeland, Teko Wynder and Michael Britt.

Mike Duman hosted a gathering of former professional and college basketball stars on Saturday at his used car superstore for a meet and greet designed to help bring in more young people to register for a basketball skills and drills clinic that will be held this week in Suffolk. The former players will help run the clinic. Front row, from left: Mike Duman, Kemorie Gay, Michael Britt’s nephew; middle row, from left: Timothy Stanfill, Diego McCoy, David Wingate and Mike Daniels; back row, from left: Angelo Scott, Joel Copeland, Teko Wynder and Michael Britt.

They will be part of a youth basketball skills and drills clinic put together by former NBA player and University of the District of Columbia star Michael “P-Bird” Britt.

Britt has enlisted the help of a variety of former professional and former college stars for the clinic, which runs March 31-April 2 at the Robert W. Harrell Jr. Physical Health and Education Center on 400 Bank Street.

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The clinic will be for boys and girls ages 7 to 17, and the cost to participate is $60.

“I’m about giving back to the community, keeping the kids involved, and being a ‘Bounce Back Legend,’ it reconnects me with the ex-professional basketball players to bring into our area,” Britt said. “As a youngster, I’d never seen a pro athlete.”

Bounce Back Legends is a nonprofit organization founded by Britt, Michael Graham, Reggie Williams, and David Wingate — all of them former stars on collegiate and professional basketball courts. The organization, according to its website, works to rebuild neighborhood youth basketball leagues and help develop young people’s undiscovered talents.

Former players who will be helping run the clinic, several of whom reached the pro ranks, include Wingate, Gregory Hines, Teko Wynder, Joel Copeland, Diego McCoy, Timothy Stanfill and Mike Daniels. There will also be other special guest appearances.

The clinic, which will run each day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., will include hands-on training by these former players, with focuses on ball handling, shooting and rebounding.

There will also be educational courses on gangs, drugs and violence, along with testimonies from ex-athletes who experienced rises and falls in their lives.

“We just want to keep the kids busy and to keep them off the streets and out of trouble,” Britt said. “That’s what it’s all about.”

The registration fee of $60 will cover a t-shirt and the cost of food for each day. To register, contact Michael Britt at 758-4501 or MPBirdBritt@gmail.com.