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Colson relishes coaching opportunity at Under Armour camp

07/12/2015, 10:00am EDT
By Teddy Bailey

Teddy Bailey (@TheTeddyBailey)
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Sean Colson has had quite some success stories in Philadelphia since retiring from his 12-year professional career. The former Atlanta Hawk, Houston Rocket, and international veteran has infused winning into both Martin Luther King High School and Philly Pride AAU.

This past week, Colson was found pacing the sidelines 550 miles south at the Under Armour All-American camp in Charlotte, N.C. The success of Philly Pride, sponsored by Under Armour, garnered enough attention for UA to extend Colson an invitation to coach - a rarity for AAU coaches.

The other coaches at the camp included former NBA shooting guard and current ESPN personality Tim Legler, a La Salle grad; Pervis Ellison, the No. 1 selection in the 1989 NBA Draft and current head coach at Life Center Academy (N.J.); and Pete Gillen, who won nearly 400 games in a 20-year head coaching career at Xavier, Providence and Virginia and is now a broadcaster at CBS.

With hundreds of collegiate coaches perched around Queens College in Charlotte this past week, it was an opportunity for Colson to not only gain experience, but to potentially impress possible suitors. It’s no secret that Colson aspires to become a collegiate coach at some point in his career, and there was no better place to show off than the Under Armour All-American camp.

“Eventually, that’s what I want to be,” Colson said of possibly coaching college basketball. “I have confidence in myself that I’m going to do well when that day comes. “Right now, I’m just trying to build up both Philly Pride and MLK, one day at a time.”

This summer, Colson is focused on running Philly Pride 17U squad, featuring Friends Central’s De’Andre Hunter, J.P. McCaskey’s Kobe Gantz, Conwell-Egan standouts Stevie Jordan and LaPri McCray-Pace, Martin Luther King’s Rasool Samir and Imhotep’s Jaekwon Carlyle. It’s a team that Colson has coached for the past three summers, and Philly Pride’s reputation has improved because of their success.

On the Under Armour Association circuit this season, Philly Pride went 8-4 in league play, finishing tied for second place in the “Hungry” Division and qualifying for next week’s Under Armour Association championships in Suwanee, Ga.

Martin Luther King, meanwhile, has also benefited from Colson taking the reigns. The Cougars fell to Roman Catholic in the PIAA Class AAAA State Championship game this year after an unbelievable run through the state playoffs. In Colson’s second year, MLK claimed its first Public League championship in its 38-year existence.

His track record as a coach is only growing over the years, partially due to his experience as a player. 22 years before Colson led King to its first league title, he claimed the Public League’s highest crown for Franklin Learning Center. While coaching may come first now for the 40-year old, his playing days will never be lost on him.

Playing and coaching at different levels, though, are two entirely different entities. Colson hopes that experience such as Under Armour All-American camp can accelerate his future transition to the collegiate level.

“For me, I’ve been on the other side of these camps,” Colson said. “Now, obviously, I’m trying to always get better [coaching].” I have the knowledge of playing probably more than a lot of people, but a lot of coaches here have the knowledge of coaching and dealing with players. It’s great for me to meet with these guys and learn things.”

Hopefully for Colson, coaching some of the best players in the country caught the eye of some schools for the future. If not, though, the experience gained in Charlotte this past week was another step in the right direction for his future.

“Everyone knows that I want to be a college coach,” he said. “This is a great experience because it’s not even AAU, it’s the cream of the crop. The top 100 kids. There are only 2 or 3 AAU coaches in the whole staff, and I was one of them, so it’s a great honor that Under Armour thought so highly of me.”

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Photo credit: Josh Verlin/City of Basketball Love


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