BENTONVILLE -- It was a week Jason McMahan, Brandon Cole, Bobby Stadel and Brian Matchell couldn't let slip out of their grasp, and it will be one they will never forget.
The Bentonville boys basketball coaches were given the opportunity to work a camp that featured the best basketball players in the country. They accepted it, so they went to be instructors at the Tidian Under Armour Elite Basketball Camp -- in Bamako, Mali, more than 5,500 miles away from Northwest Arkansas.
"A friend of ours who is from Mali has organized, through his connections in Mali, for between 50 to 60 of the top players ages 13-17 to come to the camp," Cole said. "These kids were just incredible. We started between 8 and 9 every morning and finished around 8 every evening.
"The kids worked so hard and are so passionate. They had just a hunger to get better, to improve their skills. They come from very little, but they have such a huge desire to get better."
The four coaches arrived in Bamako, a city of about 1.7 million people and the capital of Mali, on June 8 and remained there until June 15. During their seven-day stay, they spent about 40 hours working with these players, and the camp was unlike any other they had ever worked, mainly because of the surroundings.
Mali is considered one of the 25 poorest countries in the world, and the work during this camp was done on outside courts with broken rims and no nets. One player even caught McMahan's attention for arriving at camp ready to work, even without laces in his shoes.
Even though Under Armour provided money for the camp -- as well as items such as basketball, rims, nets, shoelaces and even protein-packed meals for the players between practice sessions -- what could have enticed these four men enough to take on such a task?
"We have a group that has a passion to be willing to serve international people," Stadel said. "We feel like the talent that we were given was to teach basketball. So a way we could love and serve other people outside of the United States is through that game.
"Basketball is international, so our ability to coach basketball translates to another continent pretty fast and really easy. We knew, through our conversations, that Mali is starving for good fundamentals, and we feel like we can provide that. Through that avenue, we were able to love and serve those guys in the ways that they really need it."
Hunger For Improvement
A typical day during the camp featured a lot of skill development work in the mornings, where players were instructed on ball handling, shooting and individual offense. The evening sessions were spent with a lot of game action, where players put what they had learned earlier that day to good use.
All of this was done under the searing African heat with temperatures that had already surpassed the 100-degree mark even before the morning session was complete. The only adjustment needed there, according to McMahan, was "plenty of sunscreen for 'le blancs.'"
"That country was starving for skill development -- how to shoot, how to dribble, how to pass, how to beat somebody off the dribble," McMahan said. "That's what they need, and that's what they wanted us to come help with.We had almost 40 hours of actual camp. We had to encourage them just once.
"We were trying to teach from a standpoint that we knew we had an expiration date, so we had to leave them with things that they could teach one another. There was a lot of peer teaching going on within the camp. So the improvement I know from the look in their eyes, that improvement is still going on today.
The players weren't the only ones that received training and instruction. Matchell assembled a packet for the Malian coaches to have so they could also participate in the camp, and the Bentonville coaches went in with a game plan they could alter and adjust to whatever skill level they thought was best for the players.
The hardest part might have been making sure nothing was lost in translation since French and Bambara are the two main languages in that country. There were translators who were present during the camp, which was done in French because some of the players didn't speak Bambara.
"I didn't think it was bad at all," Cole said. "For basketball, demonstrations are key for us at Bentonville, and we speak the same language.
"It was the same thing in Mali, and we were blessed with three translators who knew basketball a little bit, as well. They were able to catch on fast to what we were saying and be able to share with the kids in a way where they could transition fast. I didn't think it was a big issue."
Raw Talent On Display
While Mali may be short on some of the simple things when it pertains to basketball because of its poverty, it does not lack on raw talent. McMahan noted that several of the players at the camp are long and lean, with wingspans longer than 7 feet, and the talent there was comparable to going to a state such as Texas and working with the top high school players there.
But even then, somebody is capable of slipping through the cracks and going unnoticed. While they were working with what was considered the country's elite players, a person on another court caught their attention enough to earn an invitation by the Bentonville coaches, and he was there the next day to work.
"He shows up off the street in sandals, and he's on another court dunking," Matchell said. "We look over there, and we thought we should measure that kid, just to see what is up.
"He was 6-6 with a 7-1 wingspan and in the eighth grade, which was crazy and unheard of. The idea that sort of person is sitting out there -- with nobody working with him and nobody to train him -- is one of the reasons why we went over there."
As expected, the camps drew plenty of outside interest. While the Bentonville coaches would be working with their group of players, a lot of Malian youths could be found standing along the fences and observing what took place.
By the time the camp was over, even these youngsters were going through the motions and doing what the players on the inside had worked on all week long.
"Any time you bring guys like us in there that is different, it's going to draw attention," Stadel said. "Any time you bring basketball into that, it's going to bring attention because those kids don't have much to do.
"They are running around town and hanging out, so it was awesome for them to just hang out and watch. We were also generous with food, so that drew them in. With us being outside, it made it more accessible for those kids to just hang out, and they found ways to get through that fence."
The week in Bamako made a world of difference, not only to those players but the Bentonville coaches. While they had researched and studied about Mali being a dangerous play, they were overwhelmed by the hospitality and the friendliness shown to them by the people in Bamako.
There is already talk about going back again for another camp, simply because of what they experienced.
"You couldn't come back not be humbled," Stadel said. "You're humbled by what we have here and what they have there.
"Despite what we have -- the air-conditioned gym and basketballs galore and ladders and tennis balls and stuff -- that doesn't make a player. It's that heart and desire. Those guys pushed us from day one to be better."
Sports on 06/22/2014