Harper hosts first ever basketball camp on the Plains

AUBURN, Ala. (WSFA) - “It’s been great having my first basketball camp and being able to have it in Auburn has been a special experience.”

Although he’s originally from Georgia, Jared Harper considers Auburn his second home, which is why he did something no other former Auburn player has done in the past: Host a youth basketball camp on the Plains.

Jared Harper (@Therealvinoo) taking some time to sign autographs at his basketball camp today in Auburn! More on his camp and why he chose to come back to plains tonight on @wsfa12news pic.twitter.com/tFUnLVcLV0
— Hailey Sutton (@_HaileySutton) July 8, 2021

“I’ve always been a part of Bruce’s camps here when I was a college student, so its been great to be back and have my hands on and be able to help the kids,” said Harper. “I just tried to do something that would be special and that could make an impact. Being able to come back to Auburn is always great and to be able to have my first camp in Auburn was great.”

The former Tiger point guard took time away from his offseason training to share his skills with young ballers hoping to one day be in his shoes. Harper was also joined by his former teammates Bryce Brown and Horace Spencer.

He said the focus was to have fun and learn something new on the hardwood, pulling from his own experience on the court.

“We have different age groups so we’re kinda working on different things, but definitely everybody is starting with the fundamentals because I still work on those same fundamentals now,” said Harper.

Roughly 80 campers learned from Harper and his staff, focusing on the fundamentals of basketball.(Source: WSFA 12 News)

But the main takeaway from the last three days was to give the next generation of hoopers something, and someone, to look up to.

“I feel like everyone has gotten better over the course of the camp every day, and I try to get a little better. So I’m trying to relay that message out to them, so that every day they get better and continue to work and let everything happen,” said Harper.

Harper played on a two-way contract with the New York Knicks this past season, appearing in eight games before the season came to a close in the opening round of the playoffs. Prior to that, he was a member of the G League’s Westchester Knicks, where he averaged 21.3 points and 6.9 assists per contest.