Former Wizards Big Man Holds Hoops Camp in Falls Church

Kenya Bliss is one of the dozens of young basketball players taking part in the Giant Basketball Academy this week during spring break.

Bliss, 13, did not like playing basketball with older kids despite being tall enough to play with them when she first moved to Virginia. She said she was encouraged to play with children above her skill level by camp director and former Washington Wizard’s big man Gheorghe Muresan.

“When I first started I was bigger and taller [than kids my age],” she said.  “So I played with the older kids and that’s how I got better.”

The camp is being held at the for children seven to 13-years-old. The camp focuses on all facets of the game including ball handling, shooting, defensive positioning and team defense and competition. The camp runs through Friday.

After finishing his professional basketball career in the French League with Pau Ortez in 2003, Muresan considered opening a gym in New Jersey to have an outlet to spend time with his sons Gheorghe Jr., 14, and Victor, 11, when the Wizards offered him a job in their front office.  He took the Wizards up on their offer, moved back to the Washington-area in 2004 and started the basketball academy, which focuses on fundamentals and skill building for players of all levels.

Muresan first started working with children in his native Romania in 1993 but was “intimidated” by the idea of working with kids of any size. The 7 feet 7 inch tall, quiet giant of a man said he didn’t know how to work with children until he started interacting with them.

“To win the game is good,” said Muresan who played for the Wizards from 1993-1997 and spent his final two seasons in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets before injuries forced him to retire from the NBA in 2000.  “But to put the ball [in a kid’s] hands and [see them] love the game is better.  You can’t make a kid want to get better, but sports can change a kid’s life.”

Louis Klarfeld participated in the camp for seven year and is spending his first as a volunteer counselor for the academy. Klarfeld said the camp has good counselors who helped him improve his dribbling and ball-handling skills.  Now he is passing on his knowledge to a new generation of campers. 

“I’m not getting paid to do this but I like being here,” he said.