Chris Wilcox Basketball Camp director Glenn McKoy (left, with microphone) gives instruction to campers Tuesday morning in preparation for the day’s game schedule. The fifth annual camp has more than 200 participants and has become an annual summer project of Seattle SuperSonics power forward Chris Wilcox. Wilcox led Whiteville High School to the state 2A championship in 1999 and went on to play a big role for the University of Maryland national championship team in 2002. Wilcox, a first-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Clippers in 2002, recently completed his fifth season in the NBA. McKoy served as head boys basketball coach at Whiteville High from 1979 to 2006. The camp, which is utilizing gyms at Whiteville High School, Central Middle School and the Whiteville Recreation Center, will run through Friday.

By DAN BISER
Sports Editor

Fifteen years ago, Chris Wilcox was growing up in Columbus County with a big dream.
For the past five years he has lived that dream and he continues to share it each summer with the youngsters of Columbus County.

Wilcox, now the 6-foot-10 starting power forward for the NBA’s Seattle SuperSonics, established the Chris Wilcox Basketball Camp in Whiteville the summer after his rookie season, and the event continues to flourish.

The 24-year-old Wilcox has utilized the charisma and leadership abilities of Glenn McKoy, his coach at Whiteville High, to direct the camp each year. McKoy retired from his WHS coaching position in 2006 - after 27 seasons, 536 victories and two state championships - but he remains the director of the Wilcox camp, which grows more popular by the year, drawing boys and girls of all ages and abilities.

Wilcox’s mother, Debra Brown, is one of the camp’s chief organizers and remains in motion the entire week, checking to make sure all facets of the camp are being carried out.

As was the case the first four years, more than 200 youngsters are participating in this week’s camp. A large staff of area coaches and players provide instruction at gyms at Whiteville High School, Central Middle School and the Whiteville Recreation Center are utilized to the fullest during the week.

Each camper gets the opportunity to compete in at least three games per day.

Longtime West Columbus High School boys basketball coach Michael Powell and East Columbus High School boys basketball coach Clarence Ganus have been among the list of keynote speakers this week.

At today’s camp session, Wilcox made his keynote address to the campers, held a question-and-answer session and gave out countless autographs.

Friday’s final of camp will feature addresses by John Lucas, a native of Durham, who earned All-America honors in both basketball and tennis and went on to play 14 seasons in the NBA, and William Jarrett, a survivor of the notorious Crips Gang of South Central Los Angeles, who is now an executive for the YMCA in southern California.

Wilcox and his mother started the camp to provide more opportunity to youth in his native county.

His message to the youngsters is to strive to succeed. Wilcox feels that if a youngster really wants to be a basketball player, he should work as hard as he possibly can, keep a good attitude, and take care of the rest of the responsibilities his or her life holds.

He reminds them that not everybody can be a professional basketball player, but there are many other strong choices in life to pursue and find success.

This past season, Wilcox averaged 13.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per outing while starting 81 of the SuperSonics’ 82 games. Wilcox was traded to the SuperSonics from Los Angles Clippers in February of 2006.

The SuperSonics, affected by injuries to key players Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, fell short of making the NBA playoffs.

Wilcox had been the Clippers No. 1 draft pick in 2002, just two months after Wilcox had helped lead the University of Maryland to the NCAA championship. He relinquished his final two seasons at Maryland to enter the NBA.

As a high-schooler, Wilcox played his sophomore and junior years at Whiteville. During his 1999 junior season, he paced Coach McKoy’s Wolfpack to the state 2A championship, putting on an incredible second half performance in the state title-clinching victory West Caldwell at UNC-Chapel Hill’s Smith Center. It was the first of two consecutive state titles for the Wolfpack.

Wilcox transferred to Raleigh’s Enloe High School for his senior season.