By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Sports Editor

Columbiana native and former Shelby County High School basketball standout Bobby Madison is bringing his camp back to the Charles Dickinson Gymnasium at the high school for the eighth consecutive year.

The eighth annual camp will be held June 26-29 and will be open to ages 6-17.

In his time at SCHS, Madison was not only a star in Columbiana, but led the state in rebounding and was also named as an All-State selection before graduating in 2000, an honor that isn’t earned without a lot of dedication and hard work devoted to the game.

After a successful run for the Wildcats, Madison found himself traveling an hour-and-a-half to the east to attend Southern Union State Community College to continue his athletic career. It didn’t take long to cement himself as a strong player there either as those same hard-working skills came out.

Before his two years at the school came to an end, Madison had earned his way onto another impressive list when he was named to the Junior College All-American team.

His dedication to the game was noticed, which led him to being able to continue his career again as he moved on from the JUCO school and traveled a little bit further away from home to Kalamazoo, Michigan to the campus of Western Michigan University. Madison spent his last two years of collegiate eligibility playing for the Broncos and played an integral part in their 2003 run to the NIT, their 2004 conference championship and 2004 NCAA Tournament appearance.

His college career came to an end in the first round of the 2004 tournament after he and the Broncos lost a 71-58 game to the Vanderbilt Commodores.

After earning his degree and graduating from Western Michigan, Madison moved on to seek opportunities of playing professional basketball oversees in the in the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). He went on to spend three years playing in countries like Argentina, Chile, Portugal and Venezuela.

Madison has since digressed from basketball as a profession, but started this camp eight years ago and it’s something that brings him just as much, if not more joy than his playing days even did.

With an older brother who spent time with the Harlem Globe Trotters and a younger brother who just finished his senior year playing on UAB’s basketball team, Madison is part of a basketball rich family that yes was naturally gifted, but also a family that was rooted in fundamentals and hard work.

All of this background information is necessary to show what you can expect to learn from attending his camp at the end of June. Madison takes the time to put these camps together each year because he wants to help the next generation of kids realize that hard work and determination can get you noticed in the city of Columbiana as well.

While there will be a lot of fun involved in the camp, the focus will be on sportsmanship and fundamentals, something Madison fears is leaving the game.

For this reason, he spends the majority of the time teaching the campers simple fundamentals like bounce passes and shooting techniques. It’s something he has seen pay off in the grand scheme of things as it teaches kids how to play the game properly and gives them a grounded foundation on which to start showing that determination that he did, which is what it takes to make it in any sport.

The camp will be open to both boys and girls and will last four days and will feature two different time slots. Kids ages 6-11 will participate from 8 a.m. to noon, while ages 12-17 will be from 1-5 p.m. The camp costs $70 per camper, but if an additional sibling is joining them it will only cost the second person $55.

If you would like to register, you can stop by Shelby County High School on Sunday, June 4, or visit BobbyMadisonBasketball.com where you can register anytime.