McBride

WHEELING — Former West Virginia Mountaineer and current New York Knick Miles “Deuce” McBride held basketball camps in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio on July 26 and 27, and started off the next leg of his tour in Wheeling on Friday.

McBride worked with local aspiring stars of the hardwood July 28 at Highland Sports Complex in Triadelphia, putting kids ages 6-12 through the paces, and giving them a rare chance to receive instruction from an NBA player.

While the youngsters at Highland Sports Complex received a wealth of knowledge from the WVU alum, for McBride, it was the opportunity to give back which held up his end of the bargain.

“Growing up going to a lot of camps and seeing a lot of different players, I wanted to be a role model for these kids,” McBride said. “Growing up and being inspired by others, I knew I wanted to inspire others as well. It’s about time and opportunity, and I took the opportunity to put this on and really give back to the kids.”

The camp was slated to run from 9 a.m. to noon, and focused on developing the young players’ fundamentals, and more than that, teaching them how to continue to hone their skills on their own.

“It was great working with them,” McBride said of the campers. “I love working with kids, and I really just wanted to pass my knowledge onto the next generation. They might not make it to the NBA, but they can all say they worked with an NBA player.”

Checking off his first stop in Wheeling, McBride will have one more pop-up camp in a spot familiar to him: Morgantown, the place where the Mountaineer played two seasons of college basketball, and the place where he formed a bond with the Mountain State.

“My two years at West Virginia were very special to me,” McBride said. “I learned a lot, and those years are what propelled me to the pros. I feel like the community really accepted me- I’m an Ohio kid, a Cincinnati kid- but the people here really made it feel like a second home. I just wanted to pass on my knowledge and give back to the community.”

McBride’s fourth and final camp is set to take place in Mylan Park at Morgantown, on July 30, from 9 am to 4 pm.