If you drove past Rock Bridge High School this summer and saw a gym full of kids working on their jump shots, there’s a good chance Ja’Monta Black was running the drills.
Black, a former Rock Bridge guard who led the Bruins to a state championship in 2019, spent part of his off-season hosting an inaugural youth basketball camp on his old home court. The camp is open to hoopers of all ages, and Black says he’s already thinking about making it an annual fixture.
“I put together this camp because I wanted to do things like this my whole life,” Black told ABC 17 News.
Black’s own path took him a long way past Rock Bridge. He went on to set single-season college records for three-pointers made, three-point attempts, and minutes played, then continued his career playing professionally in Spain, where he won championships with both Caceres and Cordoba CB.
That range of experience, he says, is exactly what he wants to pass on to the kids showing up at his camp. “I’ve seen a lot of different things, so it just allows me to teach them in a better way,” Black said.
But the camp isn’t only about jump shots and footwork. Black is just as focused on what happens off the court, telling campers: “Always be confident, believe in yourself, so that’s my number one thing.”
For a lot of small towns and mid-Missouri communities, the offseason is when a hometown standout either moves on for good or finds a reason to come back. Black chose the latter, turning his own basketball journey — a state title, a standout college career, a run playing professionally overseas — into lessons for the next generation of Boone County kids. He says he plans to keep the camp going, and grow it, in the summers ahead.
This item draws on original reporting by ABC 17 News (KMIZ).
Leave a Reply