The Elite Preview series is the best camp in the South. That’s not our opinion. Those words come from the campers and the parents who attended the invite-only camp for the last three years. 

Why is the camp so good? Because the coaches are elite. 

Point in case: Winston Neal. The former Georgia Tech player and Division I assistant coach was our lead camp instructor in March in Alabama and Georgia. His energy and knowledge helped set the tone for our best camp to date. He has also been on staff at HoopSeen as one of our player evaluators. 

Neal accepted the head men’s basketball coach position at Columbia State, a junior college just south of Nashville this week. 

His hiring continues the tradition of our lead camp instructor moving on to the college level. Dennis Felton, our lead camp instructor in 2013 and 2014, is now at the University of Tulsa as an assistant coach. 

We’ve been pleased to have a number of coaches move on to the college level whether it was through the natural progression of the coaching ladder or working the camp as a stop gap in between college jobs. Stephen Cox (Kennesaw State), Cabral Huff (Alcorn State), Kellen Sampson (Houston) and Brian Eskildsen (Harvard) have all worked as camp coaches.

“One of the things I wanted the camp to become was a platform for players to get a glimpse of what college is all about. A true preview, if you will, for the next level. In order to do that, we have to have coaches that know how to teach that philosophy," Justin Young, editor-in-chief of HoopSeen.com and director of the Elite Preview series, said. "Winston Neal certainly did and I couldn’t be happier for him to move onto the role of head coach at Columbia State. He’ll do very well there.” 

Our high school coaches that have worked the camp have combined for 27 state championships collectively. 

The next Georgia Elite Preview will be March 12, 2015.