Players’ five-star show

Five budding basketball stars from Bermuda followed in the footsteps of Michael Jordan and LeBron James when they attended the Five-Star Basketball Camp at the University of Central Florida, Orlando.

Year 7 students Miguel Perry (Warwick Academy) and Caelin Peters (Mount St Agnes), along with Year 8 Warwick Academy students Rye Ahronson, William Gray and Kumari Tannock took part in an intense four-day programme at the famous camp.

Since 1966, Five-Star has yielded more than 400 NBA and 10,000 NCAA Division One players and featured many who have gone on to become bona fide NBA stars such as Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Isiah Thomas.

The boys from Bermuda were certainly inspired by their surroundings.

Peters, the youngest to travel, produced consistent performances and Ahronson was selected after the draft day tryouts to move up a level and was placed to train with the high school players in the ‘NBA’ squad. A superb achievement.

Gray was presented with the “Mr. Stations Award” and won a medal for his attention to detail and control, while Perry and Tannock played hard with their Louisville Cardinals team-mates and won medals for the NCAA Team Championship.

Tannock was also elected as an “All Star” to play in the White/Black All-Star Classic game, which consisted of the most outstanding middle school and high school players. 

He played on the winning NBA Black team, scoring five points and was also presented with a medal for the “Most Promising Prospect Award” given to the player in the division with the most potential. 

It’s an award that marks him out as a genuine one to watch.

Their coach with the Bermuda Basketball Programme, Charles Peters, himself a former NCAA player, told the Bermuda Sun: “It’s probably one of the most prestigious camps in the US.

“It’s produced more NBA and college players than any other — the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James etc etc, the list just goes on and on.”

He added: “In a way these are the five stars of Bermuda because they have gone out and really put us on the map. I think in the group we have a few that will almost certainly go on to play college basketball at  some level — they are all doing really well.

“We’re exposing these young players to the sort of training you’d get at college level and as a result they are coming on leaps and bounds.”