MHS to compete at UF Team Camp

The Marianna Bulldogs basketball team will leave for Gainesville today to take part in Billy Donovan’s Team Basketball Camp this weekend, on the campus of the University of Florida.

It’s the fourth time Bulldogs coach Travis Blanton has taken his team to the camp, the last time coming two years ago.

The camp begins play early Friday morning, and continues Saturday before a single-elimination tournament on Sunday concludes the camp.

Blanton said there are typically between 60 and 70 teams competing at the camp, with the competition broken down into three groups: high-level varsity, mid-
level varsity and junior varsity.

Marianna will compete at the high-varsity level, with teams in the 4A, 5A and 6A classifications. That provides a major challenge for the 3A Bulldogs, but that’s the way Blanton said he likes it.

“We’ll be facing some teams that you won’t see unless you’re in the playoffs, but at this time of the year that’s what you need to be doing,” the coach said. “I don’t know how we’ll do. In the past, we’ve taken our lumps down there, but it has paid off for us in February and that’s the actual goal.

“You may come back with your tail between your legs, but you’ll come back and get better. It helps the kids and your program when it really counts.”

Blanton said the team was leaving at 11 a.m. to try to get to Gainesville and get settled as quickly as possible.

“We want a good, relaxed start because it’s going to be a tough weekend,” the coach said. “All you’ll do is eat, play ball, rest a few minutes, play again, eat again, play a little more and then go back to the hotel and sleep.”

Most of the teams competing at the camp will be from Florida, although some teams from Georgia and Alabama will compete as well.

Some of the games will take place at the O’Connell Center, where the Gators play their games, while others will be played at the campus’ recreational facilities.

“It’s a great campus and the whole camp is highly organized,” Blanton said. “Everything down there is just so well-kept. Gainesville is a really a nice town.”

Each team is guaranteed eight games at the camp. If a team wants more than that, it will have to earn it during Sunday’s tournament.

Blanton said the best record that any of his teams have left with is 6-6.

“You want to play as many games as you can while you’re there,” the coach said. “You’re only guaranteed eight, but we want to play a few more than that.”

However, Blanton said the primary objective of the camp isn’t to simply win as many games as possible.

“You take your kids off, force them to bond and depend on one another. That’s probably the biggest part of it,” the coach said. “You’re going to win a few and lose a few, but you learn more about what it takes to win as a team. I hope that that kind of stuff will pay off.

“It will be a good experience for us. We’ll see some teams who are better than anyone we’ll play next year.”