Former Douglas coach creates summer haven for pro, college stars

It's not like you just wake up one morning and decide to head out on the road to teach the pros how to play better basketball.

Is it?

Three years ago, former Douglas High head boys' basketball coach Aubrey McCreary took his cache of basketball knowledge on the road and hoped for a big break.

"I've been doing this stuff for so long," McCreary said. "I went out and started working out at some Adidas camps and that was my first real exposure.

"From there, I just set about developing a reputation. It's a gradual progression. You do a good job and you work hard, do things with the right attitude.

"If people start seeing that you have the knowledge base and the energy and the enthusiasm, they'll respond."

McCreary, who led the Douglas boys to a league title in 1997 and assisted the 2001 girls to a regional championship and state runner-up finish, spent a total of 13 years on both side of the Tiger basketball programs. Prior to that, he had stints at the helm of the Reno and Hug High School basketball programs.

The big break came two summers ago in the form of then-Louisiana-Tech-standout Paul Millsap, a 6-8 258-pound tower who was coming off his second-consecutive year leading the country in rebounding.

"I spent a lot of time traveling, but going out on the road opened up the door," McCreary said. "That's how I met Paul."

McCreary ran into Millsap's uncle, DeAngelo Simmons, at one of those Adidas camps and they worked out a plan to do Millsap's pre-NBA draft workouts the following spring.

The Utah Jazz took Millsap with the 47th pick in the 2006 draft and the rest was history.

Because he'd been taken in the second round, nothing - including an actual contract - was guaranteed to Millsap on the front end.

After a strong summer campaign and an aggressive battery of workouts at Lake Tahoe with McCreary he signed with the Jazz in early August.

At the same time, McCreary caught on with Los Angeles Lakers veteran Derek Fisher, who was looking to sharpen the edge on his game after 10 seasons in the NBA.

Fisher was traded to Utah in July, giving McCreary a convenient link to his two major clients during the summer and the season.

"It worked out great," McCreary said. "Being able to go up to Utah and see both clients was really nice. We spent August and September working out in Utah."

McCreary and Fisher split time between Tahoe and Los Angeles for the first part of the summer, and while in Los Angeles McCreary connected with another rising player development specialist, Todd Troxel.

Troxel ran work outs with Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, Portland Trailblazers center Joel Przybilla and Minnesota Timberwolves big man Marko Jaric.

"Todd and I figured out that we worked really well together and we decided that in order to compete we had to focus on developing our own little niche," McCreary said. "We came up with this vision. We're battling the big markets, so we had two main focuses. We wanted to train in a place with few distractions and we wanted to be able to train at altitude."

Enter the Reno base of Velocity Sports Performance.

"We talked with the people from Velocity and they were ready to go right along with it," McCreary said. "They have a full court installed here and we got set up with (former University of Nevada standout) John Franklin to complete a pretty solid staff."

This summer marked the test run of the new venture for McCreary and company.

In the last two weeks Przybilla, Millsap, University of California 6-11 center DeVon Hardin and former Boston College star Troy Bell have cycled through Velocity's doors, to name a few.

"We had about 12 to 15 guys out here at one point," McCreary said. "The No. 1 thing that sticks out to them is the attention to detail we give them.

"The workouts are very individualized, it's very personal and we take good care of them.

"Reno has been a great spot for this. Velocity has hosted the workouts and the Eldorado casino has been terrific about taking care of the players. It's really been a lot of fun."

Millsap and Fisher each enjoyed breakout seasons with Utah, which ended up losing to eventual NBA champ San Antonio in the Western Conference finals.

McCreary just smiled when asked how that has helped his profile as well.

"We just try to make guys better at what they do," he said. "We look at every part of their game."

The process doesn't stop once the workouts are finished.

"We stay in touch through the whole season," McCreary said. "You have to watch every game. I went to about 10 in person.

"I flew up with Derek right before the Houston series in the playoffs and again right before the Golden State series and worked with him for about four or five days between each playoff series. It was fun."

McCreary spoke while taking a brief break from running Millsap and two of his brothers through drills in Reno last week.

"They're working pretty hard out here," he said. "We're going about five or six hours a day."

Millsap said it wasn't too hard to get motivated to get back in the game after being eliminated by San Antonio.

"It's just my nature to keep working," he said. "You can't take off for too long because you don't want to lose the conditioning you had during the season.

"After the playoffs, I just wanted to get back at it, just try to get better."

Millsap said the focus is different this summer now that he has an actual spot on the roster.

"I know what to expect now and I know what I need to work on," he said. "We're taking those issues on pretty hard. We're going harder than last summer. I'm just trying to get through it."

Millsap said the sting from the playoff loss adds extra incentive.

"You always want the team that beat you to end up taking the whole thing, but it was still hard, knowing that we were that close," he said. "We were one series away from the finals.

"That's a heartbreaker, but it makes you want to work harder to get back to that point and beyond."

Millsap's older brother, John, 6-6, 217 pounds, is coming off an all-star season in the Continental Basketball Association and earned a spot on Utah's summer league roster.

"We've been working with Aubrey for a few years now and he does a pretty good job," John Millsap said. "I'm in pretty good shape heading into camp and I had a good season in the CBA so I'm hoping I have a good chance.

"All I'm looking for is to get my name out there and get a good look."

Their younger brother, Elijah, is coming off being named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year for Louisiana-Lafayette. At 6-5, 204 pounds, he averaged 12.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

"I just wanted to come up and work out hard this summer," Elijah Millsap said. "I feel like this is my make or break summer. I wanted to get the experience and learn everything I could about what it takes to play at the next level.

"These have been some pretty intense workouts."

Paul Millsap said the opportunity to spend time with his brothers has been an added bonus of coming up to Nevada.

"It's really great spending some time with them," he said. "Everyone kind of goes their seperate ways during the season. Getting to work out with them again, it feels good."

McCreary will bring Millsap down to Douglas High in late July for a week-long youth clinic.

"That's what is really exciting about this," McCreary said. "Paul and I have a good relationship and he wanted to come down and pass on some of his knowledge to the kids down here. They are just a great family, great kids. Hard workers the whole way around."

Registration for Millsap's camp, which runs from July 30 to Aug. 2 at the high school, is available by calling the Douglas County Parks & Recreation Department at 782-9828.

-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.