Sep 9, 2021

"The World of Five-Star": The Tale of the Ultimate Basketball Camp

Boardroom
The most famous proving ground for rising basketball talent used to be a Pennsylvania blacktop. A new podcast explores Five-Star Basketball Camp’s history and legacy.

Between 1966 and 2008, hundreds of superstars and Hall of Famers passed through the Five-Star Basketball Camp. It’s where Michael Jordan — he went by Mike at the time — was first discovered. Where both Patrick Ewing and Kevin Durant leveled up. Where coaches like John Calipari and Rick Pitino endured hours in the summer heat to teach rising generations of talent.

Though the camp as we knew it was marginalized more than a decade ago, the legend has endured: Five-Star founder Howard Garfinkel will receive a posthumous Basketball Hall of Fame induction this weekend.