The Ultimate Spin Basketball Camp returns to Harrisburg Area Community College this July for area boys and girls ages 9 to 15 years old. The camp runs Monday, July 26 through Friday, July 30, 9am to 4pm at HACC's James Evans Physical Education Center on the Wildwood Campus in Harrisburg.

NIKE Freestyle Performers Chris "Mr. Handles" Franklin and former Globetrotter Arnold "A Train" Bernard and Luis "Trikz" DaSilva return this summer to present fundamentals of basketball to young people in the Harrisburg region. The professionals also bring their message focused on the importance of education and positive life choices. Camp leaders offer presentations on education, preparation for college and healthy lifestyle choices, too, emphasizing the importance of balancing education with sports.

Chris Franklin, a Harrisburg native and Susquehanna Township High School graduate, felt it was crucial to raise the self-esteem of youth in this area and, therefore, was instrumental in bringing the camp to his hometown. "I travel all around the world and when I come home, I've often found myself depressed to see youth with so much talent not make it to college or reach their potential," he said, adding that some youth believe that staying in school or staying away from drugs isn't cool. "I want to stress to kids that doing the right thing is the cool thing to do."

The NIKE Freestyle Performers are best known for the NIKE commercial, "Freestyle," which was described by New York's The Village Voice as popular "hoop-hop commercials that seem more like music videos than sneaker ads."

Registration for the camp is open to boys and girls ages 9-15 and costs $125. Due to the popularity of last year's camp, registrations will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, contact the Harrisburg Area Community College at (717) 780-3276.