Mac McClung concludes 4th annual Basketball camp: “He’s my favorite basketball player”
GATE CITY, Va. (WJHL) – Two-time NBA Slam Dunk Champion and Gate City native Mac McClung returned to his former stomping grounds, eager to help young basketball players grow their skills.
The two-day camp began on Friday and is McClung’s fourth annual camp. He and his parents have been hosting the camps as a way to give back to the community that supported him.
“This is a great way for him to do that,” said Marcus McClung, Mac’s father. “Have a camp and just show them the respect and the love that he has for this area and this community.”
Around 300 kids signed up to learn from McClung, with a handful of them traveling hours and others from right down the road for a chance to train with him.
“He’s my favorite basketball player,” said Jonny Hoelzle, a participant from Philidelphia, Pennsylvania. “And I want to dunk like him and I want to learn from him.”
Hoelzle’s mother, Barb, said the excitement for the camp extends beyond her son.
“You will do anything to make your child happy,” said Barb. “And I’m happy, too. It’s the happiest Mother’s Day.”
Mac McClung returns to Gate City to host 4th annual basketball camp
A local participant, Kasen Parvin, from Kingsport, Tennessee, said he benefitted from the camp.
“I felt like when I came here I got better and I kept getting better at skills,” said Parvin.
For Mac’s parents, the amount of interest and excitement surrounding the camps is something they could not imagine.
“It kind of always makes me speechless,” said Mac’s mother, Lenoir. “That’s a wow moment as a parent to think, wow, these people are spending their time, their Mother’s Day weekend, to come to be part of a camp and for their child.”
This year, McClung brought along a couple of NBA trainers, an experience the kids will never forget, he said.
“It’s not every day you get to work out with an NBA trainer doing hit drills,” said McClung. “So, I think if I was a little kid, I’d want to do those drills and see what NBA players do.”
The McClungs will be hosting another camp in June; more information can be found here.
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