Ohio's top 3-point sharpshooter has ties to Guernsey County
MASSILLON − Cameron Weekley of Massillon Jackson High School had a season-long shooting performance from beyond the 3-point line that was worthy of NBA sharpshooter Stephen Curry.
Weekley, a junior, finished as the top long distance shooter in Ohio. He connected on 49-of-86 3-point attempts for a sizzling 56.98 percentage, which led the the entire state of Ohio.
Weekley, the son of Dan and Aimee Weekley, has ties to Guernsey County. His father, Dan, was a 1991 graduate of Cambridge High School, where he played basketball for legendary Bobcats' head coach Gene Ford.
Weekley resided in Cambridge for nearly 25 years and coached at Cambridge as a ninth-grade girls coach, as well as an assistant at Buckeye Trail, Zanesville and Muskingum University. Weekley also served as head boys basketball coach at Meadowbrook and Newcomerstown.
"Playing for Cambridge basketball was special, there were so many great memories," Dan Weekley said. "When I was young, every boy dreamed about one day playing for the Bobcats and Coach Ford. There was nothing like putting on that Bobcat uniform and playing in the old Cambridge gym in front of a sold-out crowd.
"There have been so many great Cambridge players and teams. Anybody that played for Coach Ford will tell you that he found a way to get the most out of his players and that you knew that he cared about you. It was special to be able to play for him, and I will always remember those days."
Cam got early introduction to basketball from Coach Ford
Cameron got his first introduction to basketball under his father's former head coach.
Cameron was born in Cambridge, but the Weekley family moved to Newcomerstown, when Dan was named the head boys basketball coach at Newcomerstown High School, before Cameron turned 1-year-old.
Dan Weekley made sure Cameron was taught about Cambridge's basketball tradition and the legendary Coach Ford. In 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, Cameron attended Ford’s basketball camps, while he was the head men’s basketball coach at Muskingum University.
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"I was thrilled that Cameron had that opportunity, just as I had attended Coach Ford's Cambridge youth basketball camps at an early age," Dan Weekley said. "Over the years Cameron has been fortunate to meet several former players and coaches from the Bobcat basketball program. He has spent time playing basketball in the offseason with some of the Cambridge players. Several former coaches, players, and alumni have followed his career since he was very young."
Raised around the game of basketball
"With me being a coach, Cameron has been fortunate to be around the game of basketball since he was a baby. He has literally been raised in the gym," Dan Weekley said. "Over the years he has developed a tireless work ethic, trying to improve his basketball skills. He usually shoots at least 500 shots, five to seven days a week. This repetition and muscle memory from doing this plays a big part in his ability to shoot the basketball."
Weekley's Cambridge friends have told him over the years that Cameron would look good in a blue Bobcats jersey instead of his Jackson Bears' purple jersey.
"I chuckle when I hear that," Dan Weekley said. "But I have had discussions with Cambridge AD Aaron Quinn, a really good friend of mine about Cambridge possibly playing Jackson next season. We will see what happens, but I would love for Cameron to be able to play in front of the Cambridge fans and on Coach Ford's court."
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This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Cambridge ties, lessons have aided Cam Weekley's growth as a shooter
