Top 20 Traditions

#19 – THE PISTOL PENTATHLON

The Pistol Pentathlon is a series of five of drills from Excel’s Pistol Series (named after the legendary “Pistol” Pete Maravich). Each week, the campers spend 20 minutes a day at the Pistol Series working on a number of ball handling drills. At the end of the week, each camper gets to compete in the Pistol Pentathlon which requires they complete a test that includes five drills from the Pistol Series. Any camper who can successfully complete the Pentathlon, gets permanently etched into the Excel Hall of Fame.

To complete the Pistol Pentathlon, one must complete the drills below and are allowed just one mistake.

• Bounce-Toss-Catch – 10 consecutive reps
  Description: Bounce ball between your legs, catch it behind your back, toss it up your back and catch it again behind your head)
• Spin the Ball – Spin the ball on your finger for 10 seconds
• Over the Head through the Legs – 10 consecutive reps
  Description: hold the ball over your head, throw it through the backside of your legs and catch it in front of you.
• The Allocco-Sullivan – 2 consecutive reps
  Description: Bounce the ball through the front of your legs and catch it behind your head.
• Toss & Catch Behind and Between – 2 consecutive reps
  Description: Toss the ball in the air and catch it behind your back AND in-between your legs.

The Pistol Pentathlon is one of the more recently established traditions at Excel. While the drills have all been included in the daily teachings since the camp’s start in 1981, the Pentathlon competition did not begin until 2007. It took nearly four years before a camper was able to complete the Pistol Pentathlon. Then, just like with the four minute mile, everyone realized it could be done and other winners followed, including a second just 30 minutes after the first!

To date, only 14 Campers have been able to complete the Pistol Pentathlon…which is why it remains one of Excel’s great traditions!

#18 – EXCEL AWARDS/HALL OF FAME

Since the inception of camp in 1981, the coaches meet on Friday to vote on a number of player awards, recognizing those campers who stood-out during the week. The winners of these awards reserve a permanent spot in the Excel Hall of Fame, which tracks every award winner dating back to 1981 and can be found on the Excel website.

The complete list of awards includes:

• Stu Aberdeen Outstanding Player Award
  Awarded to the best player in each division. Named in honor of to Coach Stu Aberdeen, deceased Head Basketball Coach from Marshall University. Coach Aberdeen was an amazing motivator and mentor for Coach Allocco. After Coach Aberdeen passed away, Coach Allocco decided to carry on Stu’s tradition of teaching, and established Excel Basketball Camp as the vehicle to do so.
• Dr. John Stein Best Defensive Player Award
  Awarded to the best defensive player in each division. Named in honor of Dr. John Stein, who was a camp coach since the earliest days of Excel. Dr. Stein was known for always sitting in the front row and listening to every word taught at Excel. He became a world-renown oncologist and often credited Excel with being the foundation of his unparalleled work ethic.
• Cindy Lowe Most Inspirational Player Award
  Awarded to the most inspirational player in each division. Named in honor of former camper Cindy Lowe, a 1986 winner award. Diagnosed with cancer in her early 20’s, Cindy refused to let her illness deter her from being a great daughter, sister, aunt, and friend. As a past winner of the award and due to her inspirational attitude throughout her battle with cancer, Coach Allocco named the award in her honor, noting that she exemplified one who serves as an inspiration to others.
• Most Improved Player Award
  This award goes to the most improved player in each division.
• Champion Awards
  This award goes to the camper in each division who won a championship in: One-on One, Free Throw Competition, 3 Point Competition
• Other Awards
  Station Master: Awarded to a camper who masters the skills taught in daily stations
  Pistol Pentathalon: Awarded to any camper who can complete a series of 5 drills

#16 – THE SPIDER

Another drill that has existed since Excel’s inception in 1981 is the Spider!. The Spider drill is taught as part of our ball handling series each day at camp. The drill requires that you drop the ball between your legs, then dribble it once with each hand then reach back behind your knees and again dribble it again, once with each hand. You simply continue in this pattern, picking up the pace as you go. When you get fast enough you begin to look like a spider…hence the name of the drill.

Each Friday, each camp division votes on the Camp’s fastest Spider, and that person receives an award and gets to perform the the drill in front of the entire camp and the parent audience at the Friday Awards Ceremony.

It is said that Gregg Allocco who attended camp in the 80’s and still serves as a Camp Coach and Co-Director of the New Jersey Camp Sessions was and remains the fastest Spider of all-time.

In recent years, we have given campers the option to add a few style points to the drill with the “Kick-Start” and by “Walking the Spider”.

For the Kick-Start, instead of starting by dropping the ball, you place it on the ground and clamped between your feet. You then use your feet to lift the ball by jumping off the ground and kicking the ball into the air…as soon as the ball lands, you continue as normal.

Walking the Spider is done when the participant gets good enough to advance past doing the drill in a stationary position. Once they get going and in rhythm, they will also walk around the court as they do the drill, adding another degree of difficulty to it.

#15 – THE EXCEL NAME TAG

Checking into camp on Monday is always an exciting experience. Campers generally can’t wait to hustle into the gym and locate their name tag. Why, you ask? Well, their name tag tells them who they will be grouped with for the remainder of the week.

Simply by looking at a name tag, a camper can determine the following:

• What Team they are on
• What Station Group they are in
• What One-on-One group they are in

Once a camper gets a hold of their name tag, you will quickly see them huddle up, to find out who else got the same assignments. Then, you will see them run from coach to coach to determine who the coach of their team will be.

This is always a fun part of camp…as campers quickly form friendships with their teammates and station/one-on-one partners. Many of these friendships, which are developed for the first time at Camp…become life-long bonds. We can’t tell you the number of stories we receive about kids who met for the first time at Excel Camp and are are now best friends as adults.

In addition to being fun for the kids, the name tag is a tool that keeps Excel Camp running efficiently…which is something we pride ourselves in. We squeeze a lot of teaching into each day…and our name tag system is a big reason we are able to do so!

#12 – B.L.E.S.H. SHOOTING LECTURE

Every week on Monday campers are taught Coach Allocco’s patented shooting formula. His B.L.E.S.H shooting technique has become one of the best known parts of Excel camp, as campers never forget it. Last year the acronym even made its way onto a KNBR sports broadcast, as the show’s host was a former camper and used B.L.E.S.H as an example when referring to an NBA player’s perfect shooting form.

If you have been to camp… you can likely rattle this off with no problem:

B: Bend
L: Lift
E: Explode/Extend
S: Snap
H: Hold

Each letter serves as a talking point and reminder of part of the mechanics of your shot. If you can perfect the B.L.E.S.H shooting technique, you are one step closer to becoming a great shooter!

#11 – SHOT EVALUATION

The Shot Evaluation is an extension of No. 12 (Shooting Lecture) and No. 17 (Stations).

Each week as part of Stations, each camper has their shot filmed in the Shooting Station. Later in the week, Coach Frank Allocco, Jr. sits down with each camper and reviews/evaluates the film of their shot with them. Shots are evaluated at both live speed and in slow motion, allowing Coach Allocco to provide detailed feedback…both verbally and via a written evaluation that campers can take home with them. The goal is to get campers to perfect Excel’s B.L.E.S.H. shooting technique.

The Shot Evaluation is one of Excel’s greatest teaching tools. It provides campers with everything they need to develop a picture-perfect shot!

#9 – DRIBBLE AND PISTOL SERIES

Camp is a place to work on your skills and become a better player. Excel’s Pistol and Dribble series break downs are are great place for campers to do just that.

Each day campers spend 15 minutes of their morning at the Pistol Series where they are led through a number of different ball handling drills designed to increase hand eye coordination, hand speed, dexterity with the ball, and more. This series was named after the NBA legend, “Pistol” Pete Maravich, one of the NBA’s all-time great ball handlers. Many of these drills came from the Pistol’s daily workout routine. At the end of the week campers take what they have learned and compete to see who can complete the famed “Pistol Pentathalon” (see No. 19 on the list for more info).

In the afternoon campers participate in Excel’s Dribble Series. Here they are led through a number of different dribbling drills, including the all-time favorite “Spider” drill (see No. 16 on this list for more info).

It is clear that we truly believe in the importance of these drills in skill development, as we always assign our best coaches to run them. In the 80’s they were led by Frank Allocco Sr and Todd Lichti. In the 1990’s the torch was passed to Brian Sullivan. Then, in the early 2000’s Frank Allocco Jr. took over.

Todd Lichti arguably the most successful player to come out of Excel Camp was known for seizing every opportunity to become a better player. An NBA player for many years, Todd always made sure he was assigned to work the Pistol and Dribble series when he came back to work camp, as it gave him a chance to work on his game while leading the group. It was said that as an instructor, he still managed to out-work every camper, forcing himself to do every drill he put them through…and to do it full speed!

Years later when discussing why he was so successful and how he motivated himself to work so hard, he stated, “Hard work was the easy part”. This is a great lesson for all of us…we all have the ability to work hard…and 30 minutes of hard work at the Pistol and Dribble series each day will surely pay off!

#8…FREE THROW COMPETITIONS

Free Throws are often the deciding factor in who wins or loses big games. It’s tough to replicate the atmosphere of making pressure free throws, but we do our best with our weekly free throw competition. The idea is to give campers practice shooting free throws, while also adding in a little pressure to test the nerves.

Each day every camper shoots 10 free throws. The results are tracked and recorded at on the Excel Free Throw Board, which is posted at camp. Each Camper shoots 40 free throws for the week, then on Friday the player with the top score from each age group is either donned the champion or, in the event of a tie, placed in a shoot-off in front of the entire camp. Talk about pressure!

Winning an Excel Free Throw Championship is quite an honor as winners cement their spot in the Excel Hall of Fame.

Campers are also challenged to become one of the very few to make 40-out-of-40 for the week. Since 1981 this achievement has eluded all but two campers.

“Biz Penovich went 40-40 at the age of 16 back in 1986. It took nearly 20 years before anyone else accomplished the task… but in 2005, 14 year old Kristen Scott also joined the 40-40 club!

See a listing of all the best scores in our Excel Hall of Fame

#5 – AWARD CEREMONY/COACH ALLOCCO SPEECH

Nobody wants camp to end, but if it must, ending with an Awards Ceremony and a motivational message from Coach Frank Allocco, Sr. is the way to go!

Every Friday we use the last 30 minutes of camp to host an awards session where we hand out all of the awards that have been earned throughout camp (see No. 18 on the Top 20 list). Those receiving awards are inducted into the Excel Hall of Fame, where their name will be etched in stone along side fellow awards winners, dating back to 1981.

These awards are distributed in front of the entire camp and an audience of family and friends who have come to celebrate each player’s accomplishments and improvements.

The awards ceremony is also where players huddle with their camp team and coach one last time, receiving their report card, shooting evaluation, shooting workout and motivational quote card.

After all the awards have been handed out, the players and audience get to enjoy a keynote speech from Coach Frank Allocco, Sr. The subject of these speeches changes from week to week, but always carrys an important life lesson.

Coach Allocco is a world-renowned pubic speaker, so his message never fails to impress and motivate those in attendance. His desire to use this opportunity as one last chance to bestow some of his knowledge upon the campers fits in lock-step with his mission of Excel…to change the world…one player at a time.

Former campers and parents often stop by camp on Friday just to hear Coach Allocco’s message for the week!

#4 – CAMP LECTURES

Each day of camp features both a morning and afternoon lecture, providing campers with a total of 10 lecture sessions per week. While many of these lectures focus on specific skills like shooting, rebounding, defense, offensive movement, etc…the staff also incorporates life lessons into the lectures through their fun and anecdotal stories.

Often times, even the skill based lectures include real life situations that are solved thanks to a basketball skill! Anyone who has been to camp can quickly name a few of their favorite lecture topics.

There is Coach Allocco’s Tiburon (Shark) story in which he was almost attacked by a shark because someone failed to effectively communicate, as well as his his defensive lecture when he talks relives the time when he ate an entire meal at a restaurant while in a defensive stance because he was dedicated to having the best stance. Coach Sullivan is known for many great lectures including his famous, “Not in My House” post defense lecture and is also known for teaching about the “friendship stance” which is better known as help-side defense. There is also the Yankee Stadium story…when Coach Sullivan prevented Coach Allocco from catching an A-Rod foul ball…because he jumped into a perfect denial defensive stance as the ball came and knocked the ball away.

The bottom line is, in any given week of camp, you will walk away having learned some valuable lessons, most important of which is that camp isn’t just about basketball…its about creating great habits that will serve you will throughout your life!