​Jul. 14—GOODHUE — Long before the Goodhue boys basketball varsity players ever took the court at the state tournament, they were once participants in the school’s summer basketball camps.”You want to start somewhere, and so this is where we’re starting,” said Matt Halverson, who took over as the Goodhue boys basketball head coach in 2013.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHalverson has been hosting a free “Bitty Basketball” camp for 4- and 5-year-old boys entering kindergarten for five years. “Bitty Basketball” introduces the fundamentals and basic rules of basketball. Goodhue also hosts a main basketball camp for players in grades 1-12 the first week of summer vacation.”There’s not a lot of organized sports when they’re 3 or 4 years old,” Halverson said. “And so that’s kind of one of the reasons why we started just to have them get used to coaching, have them get used to playing with other kids and lining up, that sort of thing.”This year’s “Bitty Basketball” camp was held July 6-7 at Goodhue Public Schools. There were 24 campers signed up and parents were invited to assist with running drills and stations.Halverson introduced basic vocabulary words such as baseline and sideline before working with campers on passing, dribbling, pivoting and shooting for about 45 minutes. The final 15 minutes of camp were reserved for “open gym” to allow the boys time for free play.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”This might be the first time that they actually shoot in a gym,” Halverson said. “They’re used to shooting in a barn or at home, but it’s kind of nice to get them in the setting and just get used to being coached and going through stations and playing with someone else, maybe if they don’t have a sibling.”Halverson’s Class of 2026 senior players attended the first camp he put on, for grades 1-12, including cousins Luke Roschen and Michael Roschen. Halverson added he remembers his current varsity players standing out as campers.”I remember little (incoming junior) Cody Ryan in third grade had a really nice shot, and I remember (incoming junior) Alex Loos was a really good player, even in second grade,” Halverson said. “You can just see kids that can kind of develop, and then you get some surprises, too. … So that’s kind of the fun part, is to see the development over, for me, 12 years of doing this.”Halverson’s son, Ben, 5, participated in this year’s camp with a few of his friends. Just like his dad, Ben already adores basketball and loves to play any chance he gets. He’s eager to learn too.AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement”We have to do crossover between the legs and aim for the magic square (on the backboard),” Ben said of what he learned during camp.When the Wildcats played in the Class 2A state tournament and finished as state runners-up back in March in Minneapolis, Ben was in the crowd.So, who is Ben’s favorite Goodhue boys basketball player?”Luke,” he said, naming the recent Goodhue grad who will play Division II college b