Established in 2013 by Jay Bilas and John Searby, the Jay Bilas Skills Camp sprung from a vision to meet a need that the founders saw in the competitive basketball landscape for high school boys. While coaching Jay's son, Anthony, for several years together in AAU Basketball, John and Jay felt that the young men they were coaching and coaching against were lacking a place outside of their high school teams where they could get concentrated basketball skill teaching that would help them improve their game.
Both Jay and John desired to establish a camp that followed the format of the camps they grew up with as they were preparing for their collegiate playing and coaching careers - skill focused, team focused, residential, and disciplined. The camp had 55 attendees in the inaugural year of 2014 and has since grown to include two locations - Charlotte, NC and Oklahoma City, OK, with a max of 100 campers per location.
While we can't change the entire game of basketball we can influence the small corner of the game that we have been given to look after. The game has given all of us so much that the least we can do is give back to the game as our talents allow. Basketball is a great game that has made us the people we are today and we hope that campers at the Jay Bilas Skills Camp will feel the same way about the game by being around our staff.