July 11, 2011
NORMAL, Ill. -
The campers of the Tim Jankovich Basketball Day Camp were given a special treat Monday, when former Illinois State player Lloyd Phillips brought high school teammate Sam Young of the Memphis Grizzlies along to the Illinois State campus.
"Lloyd is very convincing when he wants something to work out his way," Young said about his appearance in Normal, Ill. "He said that I could get a good workout in and it was fun to see the expressions on the kids' faces."
Young just finished his second season in the NBA, after playing four seasons of college basketball at Pittsburgh. Young and Phillips were high school teammates at Friendly High School in Fort Washington, Md. The tandem led the Patriots to the Maryland state championship title in both 2003 and 2004.
"Everybody was looking at us and trying to figure out who he was," Phillips said about walking into camp with Young. "I'm glad he came though, because kids look up to the guys who are in the NBA and it was nice he got to talk to them."
Phillips also enjoyed being able to show one of his closest friends a piece of his life, as he spent the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons in an Illinois State uniform.
"I was able to get up to see him a couple of times in Pittsburgh during the summer, but he was never able to make it here (back when we were playing college basketball)," Phillips said. "He was surprised (with our facilities). I think he thought everything was going to be a lot smaller, but I tried to tell him we had great facilities."
The day camp continues on through Thursday, July 14.
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