Nike's Nash Academy is welcomed by point guards

	D.J. Augustin was one of 10 college point guards to participate in the inaugural Steve Nash Skills Academy over the weekend. John W. McDonough/SI

UNION, N.J. -- Still in the larval stages of learning how to survive in a world without Kevin Durant as his wing man, Texas sophomore D.J. Augustin was enjoying life in point guard heaven on Sunday afternoon.

As one of the 10 college point guards invited to participate in the first-ever Steve Nash Skills Academy at Kean University's Harwood Arena, Augustin played the role of the maturing floor general transitioning from his freshman to sophomore year. For each of the last three days, Augustin and nine of his positional counterparts, including Kansas's Mario Chalmers, Duke's Greg Paulus, Villanova's Scottie Reynolds, Virginia Commonwealth's Eric Maynor and Michigan State's Drew Neitzel, worked out for two and a half hours, three-men weaving up and down the court while pushing each other past the end lines. "This is what you want as a player: a gym, a ball, and players that are your level or better," said Augustin, who was an honorable mention All-American alongside Durant as a freshman. "Playing against the top guards makes you understand everything and see all that you can at your position."

As a part of the continued shift in the amateur basketball summer landscape toward skill development and individual improvement, the Nash camp solely featured point men. No bigs clogged the lanes, no swing men barked for the ball. No, this was a Lilliputian revolt with no players on the court taller than 6-foot-2 1/2 and no wingspan expanding wider than 82 1/2 inches. On the final day, though, it was the college kids' scrimmage against 22 of the best preps point guards in the nation -- including rising junior Dexter Strickland of St. Patrick's (Elizabeth, N.J.) and South Kent (Conn.) rising senior Isaiah Thomas -- that opened Augustin's eyes.

Throughout the camp, both groups had used the same facilities, but the opposing age groups had only seen each other in passing at the nearby Doubletree Suites, where they were put up for the weekend, before taking the court against each other. "Coming into this weekend I didn't really know what to expect," said Augustin, who scored the first 10 points for the collegians, including two threes and a slashing layup. "I did ABCD camp and the showcases when I was in high school, and those were kinda fun to play pick-up games, but how do you grow as players from that?"

Just 26 miles south of the Rothman Center on the campus of Fairleigh Dickinson University, where the ABCD camp had been held in recent years, Nike brought its newfound skills academy to the New York metropolitan area. Scrimmages and open-floor play were limited to small time allotments throughout the three days, with emphasis instead on skill development rather than AAU style free-for-alls. "At those other camps there are so many players and so many guys playing different positions," said Augustin. "This is good to see one player type learning drills and getting accustomed to playing against the best competition."

The Nash edition of the skills academies completed this year's inaugural set of sessions. In Los Angeles last week, Kobe Bryant assisted in developing shooting guards skills, while Vince Carter helped swing men in Orlando and Amare Stoudemire took care of the big men in Phoenix. By dividing the players into positional camps, the Nike brass believes they are literally practicing what they preach, namely a return to the grass roots fundamentals movement that many believe has not been tied into the sneaker camps for far too long.

"What you want is the best players sweating in a gym with a passion for the game, not just playing without instruction or coaching," said Boston Celtics assistant coach Kevin Eastman, who helped to run the high school sessions at the Carter and Nash academies with former coaches and players like former Cavalier Craig Ehlo. "We want them to be true to the experience, without ego or scouting service reputation. The kids have done that so far, and there has to be more to the summer than just evaluation."

Without college coaches in the stands or lining the court (the summer's first open recruiting period does not begin until July 6), the high school players said there was an opportunity to work on their games rather than checking out who could be watching them. "I think the ability to come in and play against the best in the nation is something that can only help you in your development," says Rice (Harlem, N.Y.) rising junior Lamont "Momo" Jones, who never participated in the old ABCD or Nike All American camps.

Starting on July 6 and running through July 9, the players from each of the position camps will meet at the LeBron James US Skills Academy in his native Akron, Ohio, for a more competition-based event. Because of the open recruiting period, the ability for talent evaluators to watch the players compete in game settings will be a main draw, and the partisan politics of the summer scene will be evident again as Reebok sponsors its new Reebok U. camp in Philadelphia from July 6-10.

"It's a billion dollar industry and you would hope that team play and fundamental improvement can come out of it," said Nash, who watched from the sidelines on Sunday, in addition to giving soft-spoken advice to the players, both individually and in the group sessions. "I had one scholarship offer and it came at the end of my senior year so I was in a very different situation than these guys [who are] the top point guards in the country and are writing that ticket. In many ways it's good to see that not everyone has a guaranteed pass. They have to continue to work and keep competing and use that talent."

Nash, who has transformed his career from playing in the shadows of the summer scene to two-time NBA MVP status, was not just a nominal contributor to the week that was. Hanging from the track above the tri-court gym were four larger than life Nash posters that ostensibly came from the Mao Zedong school of interior design. His message was not mere corporate propaganda, though, as he provided insight to signature plays of his, like the screen-and-roll. "I'm not sure of my effect on the players, but you hope that they take these lessons and drills back to their home gyms," said Nash. "The old sysytem did not allow enough for team play. Hopefully this is the right direction."

When called upon to shoot a free throw to see whether the guards would run or not after a series of drills, Nash missed the first attempt before being given a mulligan and hitting the second. "I was star struck when Steve was talking. I was hanging on to every word, and I just wanted to keep listening to him," said UNC-bound Larry Drew Jr., a rising senior from Taft (Woodland Hills, Calif.) who is the son of Atlanta Hawks assistant Larry Drew. "I hope they have more of these kinds of camps for the future."