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| ALTIZER AND COMPANY — Damin Altizer poses with a group of players with whom he has trained. From left, Kameron Pierce (Covington), Elaina Fridley (Clifton Middle School), Jordan Miller (Covington), Josh Greenblatt (Alleghany), Chad Lipes (Covington), Altizer, Davon Smith (Clifton Middle School), Rashad Chambers (Alleghany), Haden Sellers (Alleghany), Philip Cash (Alleghany), Alena Hamrick (Hidden Valley) and Chase Woodard (Clifton Middle School). (Photo Courtesy of Cody Altizer) |
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LARRY O'ROURKE
Staff Writer
Damin Altizer preaches what they practice.
Whether they aspire to become standout basketball players or simply want to be picked earlier in gym class, Altizer can help.
Through intense skills training, Altizer works with teams or individuals using innovative ways of teaching basketball, while at the same time, keeping his pupils interested.
"You do have the chance to be influential and positively affect these kids," Altizer said. "I just show them the door to opportunity. They have to work to get through that door."
Altizer has worked with area high school players, a few college players and even Mario Chalmers of the NBA's Miami Heat.
Coming from a basketball family, Altizer's credentials speak for themselves. His father, Tim, was a standout player at Alleghany County High School, while his uncle, Grady Haynes, starred at Clifton Forge. His first cousin, Gavin Haynes, is the current jayvee basketball coach at Alleghany, while his brother, Cody, also played at Bath County and later at Alleghany.
After an outstanding career at Bath County High School, where he is a member of the 1,000-point club, Altizer played one year as a walk-on under Dave Leito at the University of Virginia.
He graduated from U.Va. with a degree in environmental science, but basketball remains his true passion.
Altizer now resides in Durham, N.C., where he serves as the Hoops City U director of operations and lead trainer. His job duties include leading classes, handling AAU training and developing coaches curriculum, in addition to attending to his personal and team training at the facility.
His fiancee, Kelly McElwee, who also has family ties to Bath County, is attending graduate school at Duke, where she is working toward a degree in environmental policy.
Altizer claims he is no Duke fan, but there is another connection with the Blue Devils.
He has gotten into the gym once with Andre Dawkins of Duke.
He'll also be doing a halftime demonstration of the skills and drills taught at Hoops City U during the Duke-Virginia Tech women's game on Thursday, Feb. 2.
"We'll be bringing a few of our select kids through drills showcasing the kind of training we do," he explained. "I still hate Duke, but hey, they asked."
Altizer also has ties to Duke's biggest rival. He trained She'la White all summer at the University of North Carolina.
"We trained at Carmichael and the Dean Dome which was fun, as I grew up a UNC fan," Altizer said. "It was wild being at UNC with guys like Raymond Felton and other NBA guys just walking around everywhere."
Altizer also worked out "quite a few times" last summer with John "Jet" Williams, who was a mainstay on ESPN's Top 10 last year while at UNC-Asheville and is now with the Harlem Globetrotters.
The globetrotting angle doesn't end with Williams. Next summer, Altizer has been asked to travel to Brazil to do a coaching clinic, however, at the same time he is scheduled to go to the Bahamas to conduct a training workout.
"It was quite a conundrum as to which way to go," said Altizer shortly before Christmas, his summer plans still somewhat up in the air. "Hopefully, I'll get to do Nassau and Rio, both."
While Altizer enjoys working with the more advanced players, he takes great pride in assisting the younger set, in particular those high school players with local ties.
"This summer, I had a completely open door policy for anyone from home who wanted to come and stay," he said.
Haden Sellers from Alleghany stayed four days, Altizer recalled, while Davon Smith from Clifton Middle School spent 10 days. Philip Cash, also from Alleghany, visited twice, spending a total of 17 days.
"They got to work out, hang out and just do nothing but basketball for their time here," Altizer said.
Additionally, Altizer has worked with Rockbridge standout Andrew Rowsey, Chad Lipes and Jordan Miller of Covington and Rashad Chambers of Alleghany along with several other local athletes.
Along the way, Altizer has been blindsided by his hoops endeavors.
Last summer, he spent a week with S.J. Tuohy of Memphis, Tenn., whose family gained notoriety in "The Blind Side," a 2009 movie starring Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock which earned Bullock an Academy Award for Best Actress.
The movie chronicles how the Tuohy family takes in Michael Oher, an outstanding football talent who went on to college at Ole Miss and now plays on the offensive line for the Baltimore Ravens.
Altizer met Sean Touhy and his son, A.J., last summer while they were in North Carolina. He explained that Sean was an All-SEC basketball player who almost went to Virginia.
"We had an immediate connection, and they asked me to come to Memphis to train their high school team for a week," Altizer recalled. "They flew me down and I worked with the team as well as S.J. privately after practice each day."
In Memphis, Altizer also met several prominent coaches, including Andy Kennedy from Ole Miss, Kevin Stallings from Vanderbilt and Matthew Graves, an assistant at Butler.
He also met Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers and Lionel Hollins, the head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
"S.J. committed to D-1 Loyola and is planning to come to North Carolina next summer to train before he goes to school," Altizer said. "The only 'bad' part of the week was they put me up in a 5-star hotel rather than staying with them. It was definitely a wild week."
Altizer has made great strides in a blossoming endeavor that started humbly enough when Covington Parks and Recreation Director Allen Dressler gave him a key to the old Jeter-Watson gym during the summer of 2010 to conduct a clinic.
"It's been a wild, wild journey," he said. "When I started at Jeter-Watson, I didn't know that a year and a half later, I'd be talking about going to Brazil or the Bahamas."
Altizer was inspired by Ganon Baker, who he met at a camp in 2004. Baker has worked with players such as Chris Paul, who is now with the Los Angeles Clippers.
"He left a huge impression on me," Altizer said.
Now, Altizer is hoping to leave an impression on the players with whom he works, and he's received quite a boost from the Internet.
"It's weird how the Internet works," he said. "I've put up several YouTube videos, and at first it took me weeks to get 100 views. Now my videos have garnered upwards of 60,000 views.
"I'll get on and have messages from kids in Macedonia, Serbia, Australia - literally all over the world - asking for tips, training or motivation," Altizer continued. "I even had one kid from Serbia do a wall collage of pictures and quotes from me to inspire him each day, which is just wild. Internationally, there are so many kids playing the game, and they reach out to trainers in the states looking for help.
"I never thought when I started training in Covington that two years later I'd be reaching players all across the globe, but fortunately it's turned into just that."
Search Altizer's name on YouTube, and you'll see his workouts with Smith and Lipes, using two balls to improve their hand/eye coordination and ballhandling skills, shooting over a boat oar or doing pushups using basketballs as props.
"I really enjoy working with these kids who want to go the extra mile," Altizer concluded.
What The Players Are
Saying About Altizer
Damin Altizer has helped many basketball players hone their skills through innovative techniques, tips, training and motivation.
A few of these players offered the following comments on his training methods.
"Damin Altizer is not just your everyday basketball coach, he's much more than that. He is more than a 'coach,' he's a trainer, a motivator, a teacher and a friend who wants to see me succeed in life. He wants to make my dreams a reality, and he motivates me to achieve all of my goals."
Haden Sellers, AHS
"Damin is a very dedicated trainer. He not only challenges your skills on the court, but he also challenges you off the court to be the best that you can be. His workouts are extreme; they push you to the max. Damin always brings innovation and new levels to the drills. He is a great mentor, trainer and also an awesome friend."
Philip Cash, AHS
"The workouts are as challenging as they get and keep you working and pushing yourself non-stop. He really knows how to get the best out of you. He really knows what he's talking about and I've been progressing day by day doing the stuff I've learned from him and taking it back to do by myself. He's taught me a lot of stuff and it's improved my game."
Andrew Rowsey, Rockbridge
"A few weeks before my senior season of high school at Briarcrest, I worked out with Damin for a week just to shake off some of the rust of football, pick up on some drills I could continue to use, get back in shape, develop some new moves for the season, and to be basic, just to get better before going out and playing some of not only the best competition in Memphis but around the country. The way Damin trains is unique, but I love it. It is upbeat; no time goes unused. You do not stop. The drills are things that you could not think of on your own, but have simple principles that can really improve many parts of your game.
I've worked out with a lot of people, but none prepare you more than Damin does. He doesn't just know the game, he can play, too. I highly doubt that anyone has better handles than he does, which is saying something because he has trained some high-caliber talent. Before I start playing at the college level next year, working out with Damin is something I will absolutely do.
S.J. Touhy, Loyola commit of "The Blind Side" family
"Damin is a great person, a very kind, humble man. We often talk over Facebook about lots of things, and he is a really good friend of mine. I might go one summer to the USA just to train with him. Anyways, I would highly recommend him to anyone who wants to be a serious player."
Nikkola Novakovic, Serbia
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Peace
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