Ex-NBA star David Wood to visit the NMI

The CNMI will soon get a chance for an intimate tête-à-tête with a former NBA player, as David Wood will be visiting for a week of training and sharing with the islands’ aspiring basketball stars.

University of the Nations-Kona Foundation president Richard Dankworth left the island today after a two-day visit and meeting with the Basketball Association in the Northern Mariana Islands.

Dankworth, a fellow Rotarian, paid a courtesy visit at the weekly Saipan Rotary Club meeting yesterday at the Hyatt Regency Saipan.

Dankworth said he met with the BANMI officers to discuss the upcoming Basketball Coaching Clinic to be held either late this May or first week of June. He said he is collaborating with BANMI to make this event a reality for the youth of the CNMI.

He said the Basketball Coaching Clinic would be a free five-day basketball training for both men’s and women’s teams. They will also hold a four-day basketball summer camp for the youth. He said his coaching team would be expecting more than 400 youths to attend the free summer sports event.

The foundation held the same basketball clinic last summer in the Republic of Palau where 225 youth members attended the training and the camp.

“Since Saipan is bigger, we expect more youths to attend the free training and camp,” he said.

He added that the clinic would be far more interesting because retired NBA star Wood would be part of the coaching clinic.

Wood started playing basketball as a member of his high school team in 1983, before playing under Danworth during his college days in Nevada where he picked up the nickname “Warrior” for playing with his heart. He got drafted to the NBA and joined the Chicago Bulls in 1988 and continued his NBA career with the Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks. He also had a stint in Spain, as well as for the Purefoods TJ Hotdogs of the Philippine Basketball Association in 2001.

Among his awards and achievements are: CBA All-Stars1988, Spanish ACB Champion 1990, USA National Team 1998, World Championships 1998, Spanish ACB All-Star Game 2001, ACB All-Star Game 3-Points Shooting Contest Finalist 2001, Korac Cup Quarterfinals 2002, and Spanish ACB Quarterfinals 2002, among many others.

Dankworth said the Basketball Coaching Clinic aims to train local coaches not only on how to mentor young people in the sport but also to develop their skills in developing strategies and good character development.

He stressed that character and attitude are determining factors in quality leadership.

Apart from Wood, Dan Dix, a former college basketball player turned missionary, and Mike Brown, a former basketball star player and now assistant coach of the University of Nevada, would also join the coaching clinic this summer.

Dankworth said he used to coach Wood during his college basketball days in Nevada.