Trojan Arena was home to some younger-than-usual basketball players for the venue as the Trojan Men’s Basketball team held a youth camp.

The Scott Cross Basketball Camp was held for players first through twelfth grade. Coaches and players helped run the camp focusing on teaching kids the fundamentals of the game.

“We just wanted to have a camp where we can get the kids better,” says Head Coach Scott Cross. “Where they can have a little bit of fun, where we can interact, build some Trojan fans and in the process get them a lot better at basketball.”

The motto that was emphasized at the camp was “Take the Stairs.” It is meant to symbolize not taking shortcuts on the road to success and it is something Cross wants to instill in everyone he coaches.

“Me and my staff we would always go up the stairs,” says Cross on the inspiration behind the motto. “Some of our guys would wait for those slow service elevators and so it was just a thing that became kind of like a pet peeve for me and I tell our guys ‘take the stairs, take the stairs’ and I want them to have the mentality that there’s no shortcuts in basketball or in life. You got to take the stairs and I want them to have that mentality in the classroom, on the court and then most importantly in life.”

For the full story watch Simon’s report.