There aren’t many free rides in the world of youth basketball camps, but Julyan Stone is trying to change all that.
“Not everything is about making money,” said Stone, a former Dos Pueblos High and University of Texas-El Paso star who spent four years in the NBA with the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Charlotte Hornets. “Sometimes it’s good to just spread knowledge.
“For me, growing up here and not having a lot of money, there were so many people like Sal Rodriguez and Bernard Hicks who just took me under their wing and helped me out with things like going to camps.”
Stone is the CEO of The Village Summer Basketball Camp and he’s conducting its second annual camp this week at Dos Pueblos High. There’s a Youth Camp for boys and girls ages 9-13 and a High School Elite Camp for local and out-of-state standouts.
And it’s all for free, with Stone picking up the tab for campers’ flights, hotel rooms, food and entertainment.
For information and to sign-up for future Village Basketball Camps, click here.
“The people I’ve met throughout my career, from all different walks of life and all different places, we’ve all shared a love of basketball,” said Stone, the younger brother of Santa Barbara High football coach JT Stone. “That means guys like [camp director] Jacques Streeter from South Central and guys from Dallas and Georgia all share that love for basketball. It’s something you want to pass on to others.”
Local products Jaron Rillie, a recent graduate of Dos Pueblos, and 6-8 Jackson Stormo, a San Marcos alum now at Pepperdine, were in attendance at Wednesday’s Elite Camp session.
Stone is getting coaching help from former DP football great Matt Houston, the strength and conditioning coach for one of the top basketball teams in China, and Jerroid Johnson, who’s coached a national team in China.
Stone, a 6-6 guard, got his start at the Goleta Boys & Girls Club. He’s the only student athlete to have his jersey on the Dos Pueblos Wall of Fame in Sovine Gym.
He was a four-year starter at UTEP and became the all-time assist leader for the Miners and Conference USA. He’s played pro ball in Italy and Turkey, and he’s currently playing for Reyer Venezia in the top pro league in Italy. The team has won the last two Lega Basket Serie A titles.
“We want to educate the kids on the court and with their academics,” he said of the camp’s emphasis. “We talk about eligibility and what courses to take in high school and college. We give them the reality of what’s going on. We’re giving these kids a chance to get ahead of the ball.”
He enjoys working with the youth and wants to start a combined 4th, 5th and 6th-grade team after his pro career is over.
“I don’t want to do AAU or any of that. I just want kids to have a safe haven to play hoops. Maybe I’ll have my own Boys Club,” he said.
Dos Pueblos basketball coach Joe Zamora, who coached Stone in his junior and senior seasons, was surprised to see a free basketball camp in Sovine Gym.
“It’s actually unheard of,” said Zamora. “I’ve worked a lot of basketball camps and usually you’re paying. For Julyan to come back and give kids the opportunity to work with elite trainers, with coaches he’s worked with overseas and domestically is great. The kids don’t have to pay anything.
“The Elite Camp is a higher-level camp where they pay attention to the little details like how you act on the court and off the court. It’s skills development and the drills he uses in his pro career. To have a free camp like that in our gym is fantastic.”
Stone said it was a dream-come-true to play in the NBA. He played his first two years in Denver (2011-12, 2012-13) and his last season was 2017-18 in Charlotte.
“It was amazing,” he recalled. “My first ‘ah-ha’ moment was my first start with Denver. I’m guarding Vince Carter and he shoots a fadeaway, something I watched him do my whole life. In that split second, I just stood there in amazement. It was surreal to see how far I’d come from the Boys Club to Dos Pueblos to UTEP to the NBA.”
Stone is having a great time playing in Europe.
“I love playing in Italy,” he said. “The NBA was great but I wasn’t playing that much. Your love and passion and desire kind of shifts. In Italy, I was able to re-fire myself and find peace and energy. I’ve been averaging about 8, 7 and 6 [points, rebounds, assists], and the European game is so different. When you find a team and an organization that’s good, it’s something special. I found a home and they let me be Julyan Stone.”
And his generosity is letting the basketball stars of tomorrow hone their games, gratis.