The Flatbush Five may be a few weeks away from pressuring ball handers and committing their share of three-point attempts to “Jordi ball,” but they’re already making an impact in the Brooklyn area and beyond.
This weekend, Ben Saraf, Brooklyn’s selection with pick No. 26 from the 2025 NBA Draft, hosted a youth basketball clinic in Canarsie, Brooklyn at the H.E.S. (Hebrew Educational Society) with sports marketing and event management brand Pro Athletes Direct. The camp open to hoopers aged 6-16 ran for
three hours on Sunday morning. Aside from the opportunity to train with Saraf, campers also got photo opportunities with him and a t-shirt.
If you subscribe to the “Fall begins with football” ideology, then Saraf’s camp concluded a rather bountiful, basketball-filled summer for the area youth. Just last week, Tyson Etienne hosted his first ever camp on Long Island. He also made an appearance with Dariq Whitehead and Drew Timme at a camp at the Hellenic Classical Charter School in early August.
All five of Brooklyn rookies, including Egor Dëmin, Drake Powell, Nolan Traoré, Danny Wolf, and Saraf, also got together at another Brooklyn Basketball camp in July.
Outside the NYC area, Nic Claxton also hosted his fourth youth camp in his home town of Greenville, South Carolina earlier in August. His fellow tree-limbed teammate Noah Clowney also made an appearance. A few days later, Claxton’s high school jersey was retired.
Tyrese Martin also hosted his own hometown-area camp in Allentown, PA a few weeks before that. Terance Mann did the same in his hometown of Lowell, MA.
But while summer may be over, BSE’s concentration on the Brooklyn youth won’t. Also promised in fall is the opening of the organization’s youth hoops facility in the old Modell’s location across the street from the Barclays Center. The factility will include two full courts, a half court, auxiliary baskets, multi-purpose court flooring for other events, and shooting labs via Shoot360.
Practice in the Park is also just around the corner. More on that soon.
