Monday Morning Maui Sports: Former No. 1 NBA draft pick, veteran coaches guide Maui basketball camp

WAILUKU — Eighteen years after his abilities on the basketball court landed him the No. 1 spot in the 2007 NBA draft, Greg Oden was showing off a different set of moves in the Baldwin High School gym on Saturday.

Dancing to M.C. Hammer’s hit song “U Can’t Touch This,” the 7-footer out of Ohio State University towered over the young athletes he’d come to Wailuku to help coach as part of the Just Hoop Maui basketball camp.

“Any chance to give back to the kids is just a good thing,” Oden said. “I’ve been given so much, so to pour into the kids and give all the things that I’ve learned, or at least some of the things that I’ve learned, is just a special thing and I really do enjoy it.”

Oden was perhaps the most popular coach at the event that drew 115 campers ranging from ages 8 to 18 to hone their skills and learn from veteran athletes and coaches at Jon Garcia Gym Friday and Saturday.

“A lot of fun, getting to meet NBA players is really cool,” said JJ Ulufale, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Maui Waena Intermediate. “Learning a lot, learning a lot of dribbling and all that. And driving to the basket. One-on-one drills.”

Ulufale admitted he didn’t know who Oden was until he arrived at the camp — he was born several years after the 2007 NBA draft.

Camp director Cody Tesoro, a former college player at Western Oregon and Linfield universities, is now the Baldwin High School head coach. He played professionally in the Philippines and all of the coaches who participated in the camp came from connections Tesoro made in his college and professional playing days.

One of those coaches came with Maui ties. Casey Kushiyama, the women’s head coach at the University of Puget Sound, is the son and grandson of St. Anthony High School graduates and his youngest son is named after International Swimming Hall of Fame member Keo Nakama, who grew up in Puʻunēnē.

Kushiyama was happy to be back on Maui, where he visited many times as a child. He brought his two sons — 10-year-old Keo and 13-year-old Kai — from University Place, Wash., to the event.  

“I wanted to come back and help these kids,” Kushiyama said. “I never had opportunities like this when I was growing up. … So I wanted to bring them here. I wanted to show them this kind of stuff and to see the local kids. Just give back to them. I want my boys to see me giving back.”

Keo Kushiyama and Ulufale became friends over the weekend.

The two found their way into the same group on Saturday and then wound up taking turns guarding each other on drives to the basket, passing the ball to each other, and dribbling next to each other at other stations in the camp.

Both players said they are now friends and that they “tricked” each other on some of the head-to-head drills. 

“I think we helped each other get better,” Keo Kushiyama said.

Other coaches at the camp included Joseph Lewis, who played at Cleveland State University, Penn State University and in Germany professionally; Ike Azotam, player development coach for the Toronto Raptors; Phil Morrison, a pro and college trainer and founder of Hoops for Christ; Cameron Mitchell, Portland Community College men’s head coach and a coaching associate for Rip City Remix, the Portland Trail Blazers’ G League team; and Harvey Carey, who played 17 years in the Philippines Basketball Association, including two with Tesoro, and won seven PBA championships. 

Carey was mentor to Tesoro when both played in the Philippines. Carey is now a physical education teacher and assistant coach at Sacred Heart Cathedral Prep in San Francisco.

“He was my rookie, took care of him when he was there,” Carey said of Tesoro when they played in the Philippines. “So, it’s been over 10, 12 years that I’ve known Cody.  It’s pretty cool, first of all, for Cody to give back to the community here in Maui. When he asked me to come out and help with the youth, it was a no-brainer to come out. And I work with kids every day. I coach high school, so this is a great opportunity for me as well.”

Oden, who was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers but had his career limited to 105 NBA games because of several injuries to his knees, is now the director of player development at Edyoucore Sports & Entertainment. He said coming to Maui to coach was a chance to pass his knowledge forward.

“I had great coaches, middle school, high school, college, AAU,” he said. “I had great coaches that poured into me and I attended a lot of really good camps when I was growing up. So I actually did have this opportunity to meet some really good coaches and to learn from them at a young age. I learned from some good former NBA players when I was younger … so it means everything to me.”

Tesoro was able to keep the cost for registration for the camp to $100 per camper with the help of sponsors. 

“And it’s just to cover the coaches’ (expenses),” Tesoro said, noting that the coaches were at the event as volunteers.

Four Seasons Maui at Wailea and Maui Coast Hotel provided lodging. Other sponsors included: Consolidated Electrical Distributors Inc., Pacific Image Properties, Sparky’s Food Company and Trim Maui.

The bottom line for Tesoro is the basketball knowledge and camaraderie the camp provided.

“I love every second, every minute of it,” Tesoro said. “It is just so fascinating to see these kids out here getting coached by these high caliber coaches and just picking their brains. This is the good stuff, bro.”

“Monday Morning Maui Sports” columns appear weekly on Monday mornings with updates on local sports in the Maui Interscholastic League and elsewhere around Maui County. Please send column ideas — anything having to do with sports in Maui County — as well as results and photos to rob@hjinow.org.