Hoop Dreams At Lake Zurich High

June 13 was the start of the Lake Zurich High School Summer Camps program. A total of 183 elementary, middle and high school students are enrolled in the Lake Zurich High School Basketball Camp, which is held in the main gym of the high school Monday through Thursday. Each of the four daily sessions runs two hours, beginning at 8 a.m. Grades three through eight will complete their respective programs at the end of June; freshmen and varsity participants will continue through July. Along with the boys program, there is a camp available for girl b-ballers as well.

Billy Pitcher, the high school's boys varsity basketball coach, oversees the program. Former LZ forward Marko Grcic, who now plays at Illinois State, helps coach the kids, as do 2011 graduates Mike Boyd (guard) and Drake Orser (center). Marko's brother, Mirko, also a forward who will return to the team as a senior this fall, also is on hand to teach kids the finer points of the game.

"The important thing is for the kids to have fun, and to give them an opportunity to get to know the coaches," said Pitcher, who acknowledged that he very well could be looking at some of his future high school players. "Many of the players in high school start at this level. We're here to help them get a good start and learn the fundamentals of the game."

Pitcher said the program is much more popular this summer compared to a year ago, his first year running it.

"There wasn't as much advance notice about the camp last year, so we didn't have nearly as many kids participating," said Pitcher.

"We're teaching the kids the fundamentals – dribbling, ball handling, shooting, how to do layups," said Marko Grcic. "There's already been a lot of progress. The kids are listening more than when they first started and are overall more serious."