Former Chargers help at basketball camp

STEVE AMES/The Acorn BASKETBALL CAMP LEADERS-Jeff Delson and Adam Biederman will help coach a local basketball camp in mid-August.

Adam Biederman and Jeff Delson are facilitators of the Agoura Basketball Camp, Aug. 11 though 14, and Agoura High School head coach Joe Riccio couldn’t be happier.

The 2001 graduates—now in college—returned to the program when Riccio became head coach that season. Since then, they’ve helped him by coaching the varsity team in the off-season during spring league and they’ve also coached teams in the Agoura Youth Basketball League.

Riccio is proud of their contributions to Charger basketball. He described Biederman and Delson as two of the brightest and hardest working players he’s had at AHS. Delson came to the program with a tremendous left hand, Riccio said, but needed to build on his right side.

With determination, Delson improved. "We set him up on the left side and he did an outstanding job for us coming off the bench as a sixth man," Riccio said.

Delson, a junior majoring in political economy at Cal Berkeley, will leave for the University of Sydney in January 2004 for a year of study. He was an intramural league captain on a championship basketball team at Berkeley.

"Basketball’s always been a part of our lives," said Delson, a shooting guard and small forward who was on the All-Academic Marmonte League and an honorable mention for all league.

"Whether we were younger in training or going through the high school or intramural leagues to coaching to refereeing other kids to playing intramural leagues in college, we’ve had opportunities to help younger kids and be there to make basketball part of their life," Delson said.

Regarding Biederman, Ricco said, "If we had to give an award for the player with the most heart, it would have been Adam. He is a student of the game. He was my third coach on the bench. He picked up stuff so intuitively and made suggestions to me during the games that were outstanding. The entire team supported his position on the team, and in every game we played they worked on making sure the ball was in his hands, so he scored."

Biederman, a junior communications’ major at UCLA, plays intramural sports. He said he appreciated working with Riccio.

"We’ve kept in contact," he said. "We help each other. He’s helping us a lot with this camp. He’s been really generous with his time, so we help him out whenever he needs anything."

Delson echoed Biederman’s feelings about Riccio.

"It’s been wonderful to have such a good tie with such a wonderful coach and wonderful man," he said. "He’s so generous with his time."

Riccio and several of Biederman and Delson’s former Charger teammates will join with them for the basketball camp.

The Aug. 11 through 14 camp is offered between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Agoura High School gym.

The cost is $149 per person if reserved before July 28. Late registration is $179.

More information is available by calling Biederman at (818) 991-3386 or Delson at (818) 879-1705.

The camp, for boys and girls third-grade and older, will include individual fundamentals, team skills, position clinics, player evaluations, training on a $5,000 state-of-the-art shooting machine, a camp-wide tournament and competitions, awards and prizes, and a T-shirt for all participants.