<p>Next Level Skills Basketball Academy Owner Jeremy Pope spent much of August training ambitious basketballers at Valor Academy, a second-year program he coaches just south of I-440 in Nashville. Coach Pope graciously shared some thoughts on the players he worked out recently. These are his words.</p>
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<h4><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="983718" first="Camin" last="Patterson"] (2021), 5’9” PG, Antioch</strong></h4>
<p>Camin at Antioch. I have been working with him since he was a freshman. He is now a senior. The kid came a very, very long way. I think he was All-District last year. He might have been his sophomore year too. He became very, very quick and very strong. He can shoot the ball well too. I think the biggest thing so far was working on him creating space. He is a very, very tough, intense fellow. His ability to shift his speed. To stop and start. Change his pace. That is what we have been working on a lot. He has the ball in his hands a lot playing for Antioch. I don’t think he is going to operate much in the corners. He is going to be a primary ball-handler. </p>
<h4><strong>[player_tooltip player_id="983714" first="Nic" last="Geraci"] (2021), 6’6” F, Franklin Classical</strong></h4>
<p>So, Nic is 6’6", 200 ppounds. He is a big boy. I have known Nic for a few years, but he just started working with me. His biggest thing wasn’t his skill, but it was his athleticism. He actually slimmed down about 15-20 pounds and is a lot more lean now and more explosive. He probably could play at a low D1 school, but he has to show he is explosive and can finish at the rim. He has played below the rim. But he is lean now. He is playing football too. He was doing conditioning with the football team and just decided to go ahead and play. At this stage in high school, you are talking to kids about putting on weight. ’Hey, you need put on weight. You need to get five or ten pounds of muscle.’ Nic was different. He plays for Chip at Franklin Classical. I don’t think he has played much AAU. He is the type of player that should be recruited a lot. 4.0 last year. 6’6". Can shoot the ball. Every single time he is in the paint, I make him dunk the ball. </p>
<h4><strong>Wells Renkens (2022), 5’11” PG, Valor Prep</strong></h4>
<p>I have been working with him for awhile. 31 on the P-ACT. 4.0 maybe 4.3 weighted. He is a very, very smart kid and he handles and shoots the ball very well. We use him a lot in our offense as a wing. Even at 5’11", but the way that he is able to attack off the dribble is pretty impressive. He has added 10 pounds of muscle since the end of the season. At times, last year, it looked like he had trouble getting to the ball to the basket on deep 3’s. Now, he just flicks his wrist and that ball is moving. He gets there no problem. I think he is going to be a much, much better shooter this year, especially from the three-point range. This year, because of the strength that he added, he is going to be able to add a lot of distance. I think he is going to put up some pretty big numbers this year. </p>
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