Champions Academy: Building Players One Fundamental At A Time, Part I
by Bill Kintner
ZIONSVILLE, Ind. – “Pull up, create space and attack!” Those were the instructions that Ed Schilling barked out to former Eastern Illinois great Josh Gomes on the court at Eagle Church in Zionsville, located just a little north of Indianapolis.
You could call this “ground zero” for basketball training in this basketball-crazy state. Here at ground zero, Champions Academy trains players at every level of the game from fourth grade to NBA players. The common thread that connects a 10-year-old player and an NBA pro is that they have both deeply committed to getting better.
Schilling is a former Miami University star player that made history in his late twenties, when he went from being a high school coach in Logansport, Indiana to coaching at UMass in the Final Four to coaching in the NBA for the New Jersey Nets in just 310 days. The next season he was named the head basketball coach at Wright State, a position he held for six years before joining John Calipari’s staff for two years at Memphis. The next year, he left the Memphis program to start Champions Academy.
Champions Academy was founded by former NBA player Dave Jameson and Schilling. They had known each other since competing against each other in college in the Mid-American Conference and they share a passion for their Christian faith and basketball.
Jameson once scored 60 points in a single game for Ohio University. Schilling is quick to point out that when Jameson scored 60 points that he was not guarding him.
Jameson was drafted in the first round in 1990 by the Miami Heat, and also played in the NBA for the Utah Jazz and New Jersey Nets during his career. He now runs Champions for Christ. They take basketball teams abroad to play and teach the game, as well as share their faith.
Today Schilling is working out Gomes, former Purdue woman’s player Erica Valek and former Alaska-Anchorage player Eric Draper. He is pushing them hard as they do a variety of drills to improve ball-handling and footwork. At the end after, they are worn out he has them make 3-pointers from various positions on the court and foul shots.
During the drills Schilling is able control the tempo of the players by his voice. When he gets louder and more animated with his instructions, they pick it up their speed and intensity. These workouts are very grueling. Schilling tortures these players with a smile and some encouraging words. You get the impression if Schilling told them to run through hell in a gasoline suit, they would immediately do it.
All three players are trying to improve their personal best scores or times on a variety of drills. Schilling shouts encouragement as he stands watching with a clip board recording their scores upon completion of each drill.
Valek is a hard-nosed little spark plug and she is preparing to tour with Athletes in Action to play against some woman’s college teams. (The ban against college teams playing exhibition games against teams like AIA only applies to the men.) She hopes to play in Europe as well.
Draper is signed to play in the CBA. While at Anchorage, the Memphis native shot an astounding 90 percent from the foul line. Schilling simply called him “Seawolf”, after his college mascot at Anchorage.
Gomez scored 1,500 points during his playing days at Eastern Illinois and he is training at Champions to get ready to play in Europe.
You might ask why they are playing in a church. This is not like any church I have ever seen. It seems like it was designed by Schilling and Jamerson because it is basically their two favorite things in one: God and basketball together in a single building. It doesn’t get any better for these two coaches.
The building in question was accurately described by Schilling as looking like a “giant sugar cube with some windows.” The main auditorium is a basketball court floor with a stage in the middle at the end of what would be the middle court. The area could be configured to be three side-by-side courts.
Today there are two full-size courts set up on each end of the auditorium and in the middle the seats are set up for church. I guess if the sermon gets boring, members of the congregation could just pick up some balls and start playing a pick-up game. That might be a good indication to the pastor to pick up the pace a little.
Toward the end of the training session, Jameson came in and helped work the three players in several of the drills. After watching Valek for a little bit he proclaims, “she is going to kill those college girls!” referring to her upcoming AIA tour.
After the training session was completed the players looked drained and wet from sweating. Schilling then brought the players together in the center of the court, in a circle and briefly prayed with them.
As I was getting ready to leave with Schilling, Draper found the energy to shoot baskets with Jameson on one end of the court and Valek was shooting baskets at the other end of the court.
We went over to Amore Pizzeria and Ristorante in Zionsville, which serves as the unofficial restaurant of Champions Academy. It reminds me of a New York pizzeria, except with Indiana prices. Schilling knows the whole staff and they greeted him warmly when we enter.
After we had been there for about 20 minutes, Dave Manzer came in. Manzer is on the staff at Champions Academy. He coached for 10 years at Miami University and the University of Dayton, and was head coach at Messiah College where he was named coach of the year in 1998. He sat down next to us as I was interviewing Schilling.
