WEST LIBERTY – The West Liberty men’s basketball team capped a memorable 2021 season after reaching Elite Eight for the first time since the 2015-16 season.

And there’s no rest in the offseason for the Hilltoppers as assistant coach Mike Lamberti is set to host a pair of basketball camps in June.

From June 25-27, West Liberty will host the High School Shootout. And as soon as the first camp ends, the second begins June 27-30, West Liberty University’s Running Hilltopper Basketball Camp will be held on the hill.

The Hilltoppers coaching staff and their 15-player team will be at both camps.

Both events were canceled last year due to the coronavirus, but Lamberti and Company are happy to get everything back on track.

“After last year and a whole year of uncertainty about what we were going to be able to do, what we were not going to be able to do,” Lamberti said. “We are very excited to come back to what we have been doing and these summer camps are a huge deal for our program, our university and our community. There are a lot of parties involved who benefit in so many ways.

“When we found out around February and March that we were able to start over, we were really excited.”

2019 was the first year that West Liberty hosted the High School Shootout. It consisted of 12 teams where Wheeling Park won the tournament where it defeated Peters Township (PA) in the championship game.

“It was coming into my summer as an assistant coach and (head coach of West Liberty) (Ben) Howlett, said, ‘The camps are yours. Do what pleases you, ‘” Lamberti said. “I learned about the shooting when I was GA at Embry-Riddle. I thought it would be really cool to do this in West Liberty with the tri-state area. I thought it would be a cool experience. Year 1 has been quite difficult. Being a young coach, not having a lot of connections and having no history of running the camp and getting it off the ground was a tall order.

The numbers are already on the rise this year as the event has so far had 20 registered teams. There are teams from four different states including Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

Locally, Wheeling Park, Wheeling Central and Weir have registered.

Each team will play a minimum of seven games where there will be certified officials.

There will also be out-of-state competition with a new feature in an All-Star Game this Saturday night.

On the last day, a system of eliminatory brackets will determine the champion.

Teams going to campus will have a team fee of $ 550. That’s a minimum of eight players and lunches are available for purchase this Saturday.

Teams staying on campus will be charged $ 200 per player, which includes two nights in dormitories and five meals.

Teams must be registered before June 18th.

“I’m excited to see how it’s going this year, how much he’s grown and to put our adjustments into play,” Lamberti said. “I think this is something I would love to do for years to come.”

And as soon as the champion is crowned, 100 campers will register in the dorms to prepare for the Running Hilltopper Basketball Camp.

The camp is for boys in grades 4 to 12 and registration will take place on Sunday, June 27 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

“Sunday and Wednesday are half days. But the grinding days are Monday and Tuesday ”, Lamberti said. “We usually go from 8 am to 8 pm and have a lunch and dinner break in the middle of them.”

The morning session focuses on individual skills and foundational work. There will be approximately 15 stations with a current Hilltopper player in charge of each. Each station takes approximately 10 to 12 minutes.

After lunch, team exercises and a competition will be followed by dinner. The evening session is championship matches.

“You generally learn and work on your individual craft in the morning,” Lamberti said.

“Then the night comes and you can adapt that and what you’ve learned in the games and the types of competition.”

The cost is $ 285 per camper, which covers room, meals, instruction, t-shirt and other expenses. A deposit of $ 85 is required with the request.

Checks should be made payable to: Running Hilltopper Basketball Camp, Attention: Mike Lamberti 208 University Drive West Liberty, WV 26074 or PayPal or Venmo @RunningHilltopper.