IU Coach Woodson, players excited to start youth basketball camp in Bloomington

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Bob Knight, Indiana University’s head basketball coach in the early 1970s, pulled aside a dedicated eighth-grade ballplayer and made him a promise.

For earning honors as most valuable player at Knight’s summer basketball camp in Bloomington, the bench general would follow the youngster’s senior high school season. That youngster was Indianapolis’ Mike Woodson, who went on to get the attention of Knight again as a star for Broad Ripple High School.

This month at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Woodson carries forward his own version of Knight’s former longstanding summer tradition. 

Registration is open for the first Mike Woodson Basketball Camp, with two sessions available for boys from grades 2 to 9.  The dates will be June 13-16th or June 20-23rd, and spots are still available. The cost is $290, and no overnight stay is provided at either session. The hope is that the event becomes an annual event.

Per organizers, the camp is open to any and all entrants and are only limited by number, age, grade level or a combination of those.

Mike Stump, director of recruiting for the Hoosiers men’s basketball program, gave a glimpse into the Woodson’s gameplan for the campers, which includes coaching from the current team set to take the floor in Bloomington in 2022-2023.

Woodson “is very excited to now have the Mike Woodson Basketball Camp, and this has kind of come full circle for him,” Stump said. “The big thing is, all of our guys (on the current team), they are asking when is camp. They are all so excited to be a part of it. The other cool thing is that during lunch the kids will have opportunities to take pictures with Coach Woodson.”

For more details on registering for the camp, go online.