This year, the Jeff Boschee Basketball Camp at Pittsburg High School will take on a different flavor from its previous two years.
This time around, not only will Boschee bring a pair of players from KU but, he will also mix it up by including a pair of Border Battle rivals from Missouri.
On Monday — the start of the camp — incoming freshman guard Elijah Johnson will join Mario Little but, Tuesday things get interesting when they will be joined by Missouri’s Laurence Bowers and Zaire Taylor.
Boschee said that it is all part of a new branding for his camp.
“It is something new,” Boschee said. “We were talking and thought that we could throw something else in. This is our third year coming to Pittsburg and we may even try to get into the Missouri side next year.
“I know there are quite a few Missouri players in the Joplin area. It will be quite a twist to have KU and Missouri players on the court at the same time.”
Johnson, a 6-foot-2 point guard from North Las Vegas, Nevada, will be a new addition to the Jayhawks squad this season.
A first team all-state selection in 2007-08, Johnson (6-2, 183) averaged 15.7 points, 7.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists in guiding Cheyenne High to the Nevada state championship game where it fell to Reno. Johnson is rated at the 27th best player in the 2009 class by Rivals.com and the fifth best point guard.
Little is a 6-5, 210-pound guard who transferred to KU from Chipola Community College.
He led the Chipola Indians to their fifth straight conference championship in 2007-08. Averaged 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists in his second year at Chipola College as the Indians posted at 35-2 record, the most victories of any other junior college team in the country.
During the 2008-09 season, Little was 43-of-83 from the field with 73 rebounds and 20 assists for the Jayhawks.
Then, they will be joined by Bowers, a sophomore, 6-8 guard who played in 31 games and averaged 3.2 points and 2.1 boards in 6.9 minutes of action for the Tigers last season.
He reached double figures three times on the year, including season highs of 16 points in home wins over Colorado and Kansas State and needed just 15 minutes to reach those 16 tallies against the Wildcats thanks to 7-of-9 shooting from the floor.
Jayhawk fans remember Taylor as the player that broke a 60-60 tie against Kansas with 1.5 seconds left as his floater rimmed home from 12 feet to hand Missouri the come-from-behind victory.
“It will just add a little different flavor,” Boschee said. “There will be a little bit of a rivalry in camp with MU players and KU players.”
Taylor was also named to the 2009 Big 12 All-Rookie Team and the 2009 Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team after he led the Big 12 and ranked No. 5 nationally with a 3.0-to-1 assist/turnover ratio and finished third on the team and No. 12 in school history with 55 steals.
“I think it will be more fun for them,” Boschee said “We are still going to teach the same fundamentals. The MU players may be able to bring a different perspective.”
Even with the change, Boshee said that the purpose of the camp remains the same.
“For the younger kids we do a lot of the basic fundamentals like ball-handling and dribbling and passing,” Boschee said. “There are things that they can take home with them.
“You try to get a little more advanced with the older kids.”
Registration for the camp runs through Monday — when the camp begins — at 10 a.m. Grades 3-6 begin at 10 a.m. on Monday at Tuesday with grades 7-9 running from 2-4 p.m. at Pittsburg High School
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports.
