July 9, 2009

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Providence College junior forward/guard Marshon Brooks (Stone Mountain, Ga.) attended the Paul Pierce Skills Academy at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. on June 28-30. The camp was a three-day training session which was part of the Nike Skills Academies. It was one of four position specific camps that Nike sponsors. Ten collegiate and 17 high school shooting guards from around the country were invited to attend.

"The Paul Pierce Academy has been great part of my summer," Brooks said. "It helped me take my game to the next level. Since leaving the Paul Pierce Academy I can already see improvement on shooting off the move. I also had the opportunity to guard Paul during some drills. It was a good experience to see how strong he was. He taught me how to get open when I was guarding him."

The goals of the Skills Academies is to instill the fundamentals into the next generation of top players. Each academy focuses on strength and conditioning and skill development. In addition to the on-court instruction, the players also get to hear from the NBA athlete and the coaches on life lessons and what it takes to make it to the next level.

Last season, Brooks played in 32 games and averaged 10.6 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. He ranked third on the team in scoring.

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