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Sammy Conner with mementos from basketball camp

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Seventh grader plays with Harlem Globetrotters

by Roger Mannon
Sports Editor

A young Floyd County basketball player has played with some of the world’s top players, even before entering high school. Sammy Conner says the highlight of his career was getting to play with the Harlem Globetrotters.
The Globetrotters are a world-famous traveling team that has played all over the United States and numerous other countries from Argentina to Turkey. The all-black team was started in 1927 in Harlem, New York, in the days before integrated teams.
Over the years the team roster has featured players like Wilt Chamberlain and Connie Hawkins, who went on to star in the NBA. The current roster is made of former college players from teams like Arizona, West Virginia and Vanderbilt.
Conner got to see the Globetrotters play in person when they made a trip to Salem. He found out that the Globetrotters also sponsor youth basketball camps.
He convinced his parents, Jimmy and Virginia, to let him attend the Globetrotters camp at Harrisburg, PA. in June. He was one of two Virginians to participate in the camp.
Conner, who plays the small forward position, has been to other basketball camps, but says the Globetrotters run “the best camp ever. They don’t allow any goofing off.”
He said the players stressed conditioning, having 30 minutes of stretching at the start of the six hour day. “They focused a lot on ball handling.
“They also made you pass a lot. If you didn’t pass the ball, you had to sit down.”
The highlight of the camp was a playing in a scrimmage with the Globetrotters. “I didn’t score, but I came close,” Conner said.
He earned a purple ribbon, and also got a souvenir ball and camp photo. He hopes to participate in a future Globetrotters’ camp.
Since they hold camps all over the country, they could hold one, say, at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, if there is sufficient interest.
“I hope they have one around here,” he said. “Everyone needs to send them an e-mail to hold a camp in Blacksburg.”