St. Mary's alum Jacki Gemelos hosts youth basketball clinic in Stockton
On Dec. 13, hoopers from the 209 will get a chance to gain insight from one the greatest women’s basketball players to come from the area. St. Mary’s girls basketball Jacki Gemelos will make her return to Stockton as she hosts a shooting clinic for up-and-coming ballers in the area.
Gemelos teamed up with Adam Gotelli, owner of The Barn, a local gym known to attract 209 hoopers, to host a day filled with shooting and ball-handling exercises for kids in third to eighth grade.
“Going back to the gym where I grew up and a place that kind of shaped me into the player that I am today is very special,” Gemelos said. “But most importantly this clinic is all about giving back to the community that I’ve identified with my whole life and that I’m very proud of.”
This shooting clinic will mark the second youth basketball camp Gemelos has hosted in her hometown, the first occurred back in 2014. After graduating from St. Mary’s and earning heaps of accomplishments such as being named Miss Basketball California and a McDonald’s All-American, Gemelos continued to make a name for herself at USC.
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She would go on to play in the WNBA and EuroLeague from 2013-2021 before hanging up her sneakers and pursuing a career in sports talent management. Now Gemelos is looking to pass along her wisdom of the game to help shape future lethal shooters from the 209.
“We’re going to heavily focus on shooting and some ball-handling stuff, but you know we want to give kids the opportunity to ask me questions,” she said. “We definitely going to leave some time and availability for them to pick my brain as much as they can on shooting as it was one of my greatest assets to my game.”
The clinic will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at The Barn at 9189 N. Ashley Ln. There is a $50 registration fee and the first 20 people to register will receive a clinic T-shirt.
“I really love this community so much and it really shaped me to who I am as a person today and that’s the reason I’m doing it,” Gemelos said. “We’re a special group of people here from the 209 and I think our mentality is different than other places. So just to be able to share knowledge with people with a familiar background it’s an honor.”
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Record reporter Shannon Belt covers sports. She can be reached at sbelt@recordnet.com or on Twitter @ShannonBelt3. Support local news, subscribe to The Stockton Record at https://www.recordnet.com/subscribenow.
This article originally appeared on The Record: Jacki Gemelos returns to Stockton to host youth basketball clinic
