{"id":780867,"date":"2026-07-24T00:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/780867\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T00:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T00:46:12","slug":"from-uab-to-the-nba-trey-jemison-iii-encourages-birmingham-youth-to-dream-big-at-free-basketball-camp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/780867\/","title":{"rendered":"From UAB to the NBA: Trey Jemison III Encourages Birmingham Youth to Dream Big at Free Basketball Camp"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>NBA champion Trey Jemison III calls out directions during a free youth basketball camp Tuesday in Hoover. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)<\/p>\n

Written and photographed by Marika N. Johnson | For the Birmingham Times<\/p>\n

Returning to his Alabama roots, former University of Alabama at Birmingham standout and New York Knicks NBA champion Trey Jemison III hosted a free youth basketball camp Tuesday in Hoover, giving young athletes the opportunity to develop their skills while learning valuable lessons on and off the court.<\/p>\n

Campers participated in drills focused on shooting, ball handling, defense, and teamwork as Jemison shared his journey from Hoover High School basketball to UAB and ultimately the NBA. Throughout the day, he emphasized the importance of hard work, discipline, and perseverance, encouraging participants to chase their goals regardless of the obstacles they may face.<\/p>\n

\"\"A young female camp attendee attempts a defensive strategy against the 6\u201910\u201d NBA standout Trey Jemison III. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)<\/p>\n

Ten-year-old Amir Ranier, who attended the camp, usually begins his day at 4:30 a.m. with basketball practice at the Hoover Recreation Center. A point guard, he plays travel basketball with AAU Team Mookie in Nashville and locally with The Guyz, while also training with Coach Boss at Big Guard Academy. Although he had already completed a morning workout, Amir said attending Jemison\u2019s camp was a priority because he sees himself in the NBA standout.<\/p>\n

\"\"Amir Ranier and Trey Jemison III take a photo together after the camp. (Provided)<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople didn\u2019t believe in Trey, and he\u2019s made it to the highest level,\u201d Amir said. \u201cI\u2019m smaller than most kids my age, and a lot of people don\u2019t think I have what it takes. I believe that if I continue to get 2% better every day, I can make it just like Trey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jemison said that he is here, \u201cbecause this is home for me. I graduated from Hoover and played for UAB. God has been so good to me, so I have to give back. Blessed to be able to come back and bless children who are like me!\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cI\u2019ve been able to move around and experience so much in my career, playing in New Orleans, playing with the Lakers, and winning championships. There are so many people who love the game and I am able to impact them \u2014something I love to do already, so it\u2019s been a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The free camp not only offered quality basketball instruction but also reinforced the value of community. By returning home to invest in local youth, Jemison continues to inspire the next generation of Alabama athletes and serves as a reminder that success is measured not only by achievements on the court, but by giving back to those following in your footsteps.<\/p>\n

\"\"Trey Jemison III and his fiance, Alex Glover, discuss strategy during a brief camp break. (Marika N. Johnson, For The Birmingham Times)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NBA champion Trey Jemison III calls out directions during a free youth basketball camp Tuesday in Hoover. (Marika…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":780868,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[355,99],"class_list":["post-780867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=780867"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/780867\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/780868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=780867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=780867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=780867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}