Valdosta State men’s hoops hosts Little Blazers camp

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) - When it comes to college basketball in the Gulf South Conference, it doesn’t get much rowdier than The Complex with the Valdosta State Blazers take the floor.

However, over the summer, there’s a different type of rowdiness that takes over the building as a lot of the Blazers youngest fans get a chance to play on this floor as a part of Mike Helfer’s Little Blazers basketball camp.

Elementary age kids get a chance to run drills and put up some shots with the Valdosta State men’s hoops team in what’s become a yearly tradition for many young Blazer fans. They get to know their heroes of winter while learning some new skills on the court in the summer.

“They taught me how to do my jump shots, my layups, and now I’m just a superstar,” said eight-year-old Penn Smith. “I like coming to watch them because it helps you learn a lot with their moves, and then I can do that in the game too.”

“There’s 50 kids here, and for all of them to come up and call me Coach Jack, and you know, day after day, just know they wake up and they’re like, oh, I can’t wait to come hang out with Coach Jack and other coaches here. I mean, it means a lot,” said Jack Voth, a rising junior for the Blazers. “At one point, I was a kid their age coming to these camps, and now, you know, I get to run them. So it’s definitely like a, a big like, looking in the mirror kind of moment like, man, I was there. And, you know, for now, those kids look up at me. I mean, it’s huge.”

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