Rutgers - Day 4 of Summer Tour 2009

Today was the first day of the Rutgers team camp. The Rutgers staff has prepared a great camp with 32 quality teams, from as far as Florida (hmmmm... who could that be?), but yet as near as Newark, NJ. The facility that the camp is held in is called the RAC - Rutgers Athletic Center, and it holds 5 full size courts, and is home to the camp. One of the nice things about this team camp is the fact that it is all knock-out play, with no pool play games. This means that every game is important, and can essentially end your bid to win the team camp.
Our first game was at 10:15am, and we played Newark Central. Our opponents have been very good here in the state of New Jersey, and we were warned about how good they were. Our kids came out a little slow, and we found ourselves in the middle of a tough game as were up 2 at the half. Halftime saw our kids get together and put it together, and we ended up winning the game by 20+ points. We had a 1 game rest, and followed that with a game against the team South Regional. They were ready for us, but our guys came out focused from the beginning. This was a tough game, but we were in control. We led from start to finish, and ended up pulling out the 47-40 game. The win put us in the quarterfinals tomorrow at 1:00pm against another good team.
As the coach of this team, I can be nothing but happy with them. Over the last 2 weeks we have posted a 9-1 record while playing against some really good teams. The players have bought into the style that we are playing, and are really, really defending well. Our team is coming together, and I am looking forward to tomorrow's games.
After the game we returned to the Embassy Suites for a quick rest as we were able to nap or visit the jacuzzi. I was able to spend some quality time with a couple of our players.
We finished our day with a great dinner at TGI Friday's, where we laughed and shared a good meal, and a visit to the movies tonight. We have an early curfew tonight, as we focus on our quest to win the Rutgers team camp tomorrow.