Live Like Geno Empowering Local Youth Through Basketball Jones Camps

Coach G speaking to the camp participants about living in the moment on and off the court [All photos by Lisa Music]

The Basketball Jones basketball camp was in full-swing last Wednesday, August 10th, at the Redway Elementary gymnasium. Old-school hip-hop and the sound of basketballs bouncing on the court warred as kids from five to fifteen scrambled across the court on the warm summer day.

Gordy Hunt (Coach G), a coach with the Basketball Jones organization, got his start coaching start working with Geno as a teen at Fortuna High. “Geno basically said, ‘you want to coach some teams and help volunteer?” Gordy recalled.

During those years, Geno empowered Gordy to run camps and coach the youth in the community. His time with Basketball Jones throughout his college career allowed Gordy opportunities he wouldn’t have otherwise had.

He left to pursue his career but was reconnected with Basketball Jones after Geno’s passing in 2016. “He was the biggest brother to so many different people in the community, and in so many parts of California,” Geno stated.

Coach G speaking to a camp participant

Geno’s family and friends created the Live Like Geno Foundation that’s mission is “to inspire Passion, Purpose and Positivity in honor of Geno by creating positive impact in the lives of economically challenged youth through development programs that personify his love of basketball, his commitment to community enrichment, and his authentic approach to living life in the service of others.”

It has been two years since Basketball Jones held a camp in Southern Humboldt, but Gordy said the group is happy to be back to their roots. The Live Like Geno Foundation paved the courts at Redway Elementary, creating an unparalleled court for the rural area. “It is one of the most beautiful basketball courts in all Humboldt County, probably all of California; under the stars, in the redwood trees, surrounded by nature …and that glass backboard which is kind of an unknown thing in the blacktop outdoor arena,” he stated.

The foundation is hoping to be able to fund another court in Miranda where there’s a single outdoor hoop and two hoops inside the gym at the South Fork High School campus. The limited hoops mean limited play time, some teams not getting to practice prior to games. “This is a full benefit fundraiser to raise funds for the youth. We got big ideas in our minds and big dreams about how to use some funds to recreate some courts in Miranda,” Gordy said.

Gordy said that what they do is so much more than basketball, it’s an outreach to youth when they may need it the most. “I know basketball in small communities like this can be an outlet for positivity. You get to connect with coaches, you get to connect with mentors, you get to connect with friends, and a variety of different people that can serve you in so many positive ways,” he stated.

A Basketball Jones coach and a group of young b-ballers

In addition to teaching basketball skills, the coaches teach team teambuilding and positivity that can serve the participants in the rest of their lives. The camps also allow for students to join in a mentor role as Gordy did as a teen. The Basketball Jones camp at Redway had two high school teens that were assisting with the younger participants, themselves learning the ins and outs of coaching.

The foundation has four pillars: Build Up: a program to build and rehabilitate community basketball courts; Reach Up, a college scholarship program for high school graduates; Lift Up, a grief support program; and Play Up, the Basketball Jones basketball camps.

Geno’s legacy of positivity and his love for basketball is reaching the next generation of youth one camp at a time.

There are Basketball Jones camps throughout California. To see the list of camps or inquire about hosting a camp in your area, visit the Basketball Jones website. To find out more about the Live Like Geno Foundation or how you can help, visit their website at LiveLikeGeno.org.

Basketball Jones camp at Redway Elementary

Running drills

Learning spacing awareness