Just because it is summer does not mean it does not get loud in Charles Koch Arena over basketball at Wichita State.

“Spacing, passing, screening!” Devon Smith, a WSU basketball staff member, yelled. “Say it back to me!” he continued.

The campers, sitting on the floor in the middle of the arena, breathing heavy from a full morning of a basketball drills, scream back, “Spacing, passing, screening!”

“That’s why the Miami Heat wins. That’s why the Spurs win. They have all three,” Smith said as he helped teach the first day of WSU basketball head coach Gregg Marshall’s basketball camp.

As Smith finished his speech, the campers start to relax a little bit, talking with their coaches, knowing they’re about to enjoy some food before drills and pickup games start again. They were done with day one and almost through day two.

Coming off the curtails of two unbelievably successful seasons, people of all ages are lining up to have a chance to participate in Marshall’s camps that are hosted at WSU and run by not only his coaching staff, but current players.

“We actually have 100 more kids than we did last year,” camp coach Jeff Chapman said. “I think we’re at 350 this year.”

While the camp is for ages 7-16, the players are split up by age and go to either the Heights High School gym, the Heskett Center, or they stay at Koch Arena. However, with the disparity in age comes a variance in skill set that coaches have to work with.

“The skill level varies from kid to kid,” said camp assitant Jesse Lee-Brockhoff. “The younger kids are still learning. Those kids have to learn the basics first, and we teach them that to get them up to the next level. We move kids up if they’re more skilled so they can challenge themselves and become better.”

One middle school girl, Alexa Do, was feeling challenged.

In a gymnasium full of boys with her shirt knotted with a hair tie, she was the lone girl competing, turning every so often to listen to the soft instruction of freshman point guard J.R. Simon when she wasn’t in the middle of a team huddle with her male counterparts.

“It’s hard,” Alexa said about the competition and type of playing. “I think my mom got the camp confused with the girls, but I don’t care.”

Alexa wasn’t the only one who had to partake in some transitioning. Simon had to as well, shifting from his usual spot of playing to learning how to coach.

“In playing you’re learning, and in coaching you have to have some authority to tell the kids what they’re doing to help them out,” Simon said. “It’s different but I like it.”

While the basketball team serves a functional purpose in running the camp, they also serve as a source of inspiration because no matter what age you are, having a workout that lasts from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. is physically and mentally exhausting.

“We try to keep the kids’ energy up. That’s why we have our players here. They keep the kids’ energy going,” Jesse said.

It seems the players have the ability to do so just by being with hundreds of kids and all the campers love it.

“Coach Cotton was my son’s coach last summer, and he really enjoyed it,” Len McNutt, a parent, said. “I love the rotation they have so the players get to spend a lot of time with the students.”

There are multiple camps this summer, each one has a different focus, age requirement, and time, but Marshall oversees them all. The first camp has already started, having the time slot of June 9–12, which is an all-day event. Students in this camp range from ages 7-16, like the other day camp set for June 23-26.

A one-day shooting camp on June 28 is also set in the calendar for the Shockers, but this camp has a different age limit of 8-16 year olds.

However, it’s not just the younger kids who get a chance to participate. Marshall is also offering a High Intensity Camp June 28. This camp includes high school grades 9–12 and junior college freshman and sophomores.

Whatever the camp may be, Marshall, just like his players, takes time to work with the campers one-on-one whenever he can.

“He’s always involved every chance he can get,” Chapman said.