Nelson Summer Basketball Camps: Over Two Decades of Cultivating Young Players

McKENZIE (June 15) — For just over two decades, Bethel University Lady Wildcat Basketball Head Coach Chris Nelson has spent part of each summer cultivating young players with help from his players and staff in a series of three-day camps.

The Chris Nelson Summer Basketball Camps began last week with team camps, where entire teams spent three days playing a total of 281 games at six area gymnasiums: Bethel University’s Crisp Arena and Baker Fieldhouse, McKenzie High School, McKenzie Middle School and the two gyms at Gleason School.

High school teams, 43 in all, played Monday through Wednesday, and 39 middle school teams played from Thursday through Saturday.

The individual camp began Monday and continues through Wednesday, June 17 at Crisp and Baker. About a hundred kids participated, with Kindergarten through fifth grade attending in the morning and sixth through ninth grade taking the afternoon.

The campers begin their daily sessions with drills, rotating through stations where they learn skills such as rebounding, passing and shooting from current Lady Wildcat players and staff members. After drills, they form teams and play short games to put their new skills into action.

Nelson, entering his 21st year as head coach, established the team camps as assistant coach under Head Coach Larry Eddings, who was already hosting individual camps each summer.

Nelson told The Banner his goals with the camps that he has solidified as a Bethel tradition over two decades. “Building relationships with high school coaches helps recruiting. It gets our current players involved and promotes the program. I think it’s big for Bethel in general. We want to see people wearing those Bethel shirts. And we hope it’s big for the town as well, bringing in some revenue with the hundreds of people visiting McKenzie.”

Madison Hart is a 2026 Bethel graduate, now a graduate assistant under Nelson after a decorated career as a Lady Wildcat. She and her younger sister, Micah (a junior Lady Wildcat standout), both attended Nelson’s camps from a young age.

Madison told The Banner about her experiences with the camp over the years. “I came every year growing up. I got to know Coach Nelson and [his wife] Jen, and it’s like a core memory as a kid coming to these camps.

“I remember doing the relays and the dribble tag, I always liked that. I had my sister [Micah], who also plays here. We grew up going to all the Bethel camps together. So it was fun, and working it now is a full-circle moment. It’s fun to come in here and work with kids. I kind of see myself in them. A lot of them know me from playing, and I see them in the stands and talk to them after games. It’s fun to spend time with them and get to know a little bit more about them and help them develop as players.

“Coach Nelson is a great role model as a coach, but also as a personal relationship that we’ve built together. It’s been really special. And the players that we have now, just great girls on and off the court, coming in here and running it. Our attitudes toward the kids make it positive. We want them to learn, but to have fun too.”