Fred Hoiberg Shooting Camp Enforces Fundamentals As Huskers Carry The Crown

With Nebraska winning the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament in Las Vegas, head coach Fred Hoiberg's Shooting Camp and Huskers basketball day camps teach sound skills training and development techniques to last kids grades 3-12 a lifetime.

Following an unforgettable 2024-25 season, Coach Hoiberg and Nebraska captured the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and the College Basketball Crown Tournament during a banner year for the Huskers. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Before entering the lively gym at the Hendricks Training Complex on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln sits the Crown Trophy on a high pedestal table with a black tablecloth, perfectly reflecting the giant red basketball logo that sits behind the polished gold plated crown and black walnut wood base.

The first wearable trophy of its kind in modern sports is there to remind people what it takes to become a champion. It also serves as an inspiration. In April, the Huskers Men’s Basketball team brought home the championship after winning the inaugural College Basketball Crown Tournament in Las Vegas following four straight wins and a finals victory over the University of Central Florida. 

Teaching The Next Generation Of Huskers The Fundamentals

Today, the Crown Trophy proudly welcomes boys and girls grades 3-12 to the annual Fred Hoiberg Basketball Camp, where the Huskers’ head coach led campers through his Shooting Camp.  

“I think the Crown is a nice touch to what we are building here,” Coach Hoiberg told High School on SI as campers warmed-up on the court.

“We ended our season by winning two championships with the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic and the College Basketball Crown Tournament. It’s the result of the work and effort from our guys. I’m excited as we look ahead to next season.”

Coach Fred Hoiberg (right) and Director of Player Development, Emmanuel Tommy (left) tip-off the Shooting Camp at the Hendricks Training Complex, the last of four camps in the month of June. / Wendell Maxey

That’s the inspiration. The reminder comes from knowing the glory isn’t possible without the attention to details on the fundamentals of the game of basketball and shooting. That was a teaching point Coach Hoiberg’s emphasised time and again – the fundamentals – with campers as Director of Player Development, Emmanuel Tommy, and his staff of coaches led kids through instructions on how to become a better shooter. 

“It wasn’t that long ago that I was right there at camp. That’s when I became a better shooter, during the summer. I always loved shooting the ball and I started at 5-years old. As a young player in high school, I needed to work at it to become a good shooter. When I got to college at Iowa State I didn’t have the footwork, so that became part of working on those fundamentals. I always had the same routine – one handed shots starting at the restricted area and then stepping back to the free-throw line and then the three-point line to get my form right.”

Encouraging Each Other To Get Better

In 10 seasons in the NBA between the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls, and Minnesota Timberwolves, "the Mayor" led the league in three-point percentage (48.3%, 2004-05) and became the first player in history to lead the league in three-point shooting percentage and not be invited to the All-Star three-point contest. He may have retired from the NBA in 2006, but Fred Hoiberg can still shoot the rock as he displayed for campers when breaking down his shot.

Swish.

Swish. 

Swish. 

For Director of Player Development, Emmanuel Tommy, the development of basketball players isn’t only reserved for solely the Huskers on the court but the care and progress also extends into the local communities. It’s one of Coach Tommy’s favorite parts about leading Coach Hoiberg’s camps for the past four years: seeing young players grow and flourish. 

“We want them to learn skills and techniques that will stick with them the rest of their lives through practice and repetition. What we are teaching today is the same philosophy we apply to our basketball program. We encourage each other to get better,” shared Coach Tommy, a graduate of Western Michigan who has coached at his alma mater,  McNeese State, and South Alabama.

Since joining Hoiberg’s staff in 2022,  Coach Tommy has assisted with the day-to-day operation of the Husker program ranging from on-court coaching, individual player development, recruiting, and helping student-athletes excel beyond the basketball court. In the past three seasons alone, Nebraska has had every student athlete make the Tom Osborne Citizenship Team for their work in the community. 

Coach Hoiberg teaches campers how to utilize the “B.E.E.F Method”: Balance, Eyes on Target, Elbow In and Follow Through. / Wendell Maxey

“I’ve had parents share with me how they appreciate the work we are doing with their children because of how serious we take what we do. I’m not saying we don’t have fun, but we fundamentally believe the little things matter. It’s a lot of development for kids who are in grade school, middle school and want to grow as players in high school or beyond. Hopefully they can take these skills home with them and continue to learn.”

Coach Tommy has also watched in awe as Coach Hoiberg navigates the daily waters from being a former NBA sharpshooter and NBA head coach, to reaching the success that comes with being an elite college basketball coach. A natural with kids and as a mentor, Coach Hoiberg taught campers how to build their shot correctly, from base to form to follow through by utilizing the “B.E.E.F Method”: Balance, Eyes on Target, Elbow In and Follow Through. Now and again he’d even mix in the mention of a former teammate or contemporary who Hoiberg learned from like Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, Larry Bird, Jeff Hornacek, and Ray Allen. 

Regardless if you are a fifth grader dreaming of one day reaching the NBA or are a high school freshman anxious to make a splash on varsity, Coach Hoiberg’s advice is a one-size-fits-all.

Becoming A Better Shooter And Player Starts Here

“You should have a quiet body as a shooter.”

He may have won a basketball state championship in high school at Ames High School where he was named the State of Iowa’s “Mr. Basketball”, but the Lincoln, Nebraska born Hoiberg is truly a Cornhusker through and through. Even during those formative years when basketball was taking hold of a kid who’d become a four-sport athlete in high school (Hoiberg was recruited to play football at Nebraska before choosing Iowa State), it was his youth basketball coaches in Iowa that influenced how he sees and coaches the game today. 

“All of my coaches have had an impact on me, but early on my high school basketball coach – Wayne Clinton – was a really good teacher. He taught us the fundamentals to work on. Before my freshman year of high school, my 8th grade coach (Arnie Gaarde) made up our team with girls and boys and we traveled to Seattle to play in a tournament. But Coach Johnny Orr at Iowa State, that was my first basketball camp. It was an overnight camp for about 4-5 days,” Hoiberg recalled. 

He paused and looked around the gym. 

Banners of Husker players hung down from the ceiling at the far end of the court. Painted mantras on the gym walls echoed, “We Play For Nebraska” and “Red Burns Brighter”. Kids dribbled around and got shots up on the court, while parents snapped photos and chatted away about the basketball camp that carries his name. 

“That’s when I really started to learn the game. That was the highlight of my summer.”