JOPLIN, Mo. — Friday morning, the Missouri Southern men’s basketball program was back on the court, but this time they took a back seat for their high school team camp on campus at MSSU.

The Lions hosted a one-day team camp for high school varsity and junior varsity teams to compete against one another. The camp began at 10 a.m. and wrapped up around 5 p.m.

The camp included 22 teams from Missouri and Kansas with a handful of local teams like Webb City, Seneca, Riverton, Galena and more. In total, there were about 400 kids in attendance at the camp.

Coach Sam McMahon said, “I mean having all these kids on campus, these are all potential students, not just basketball players. So, it’s probably 300-400 Kids on campus to showcase our great facilities, our rec center. L&P, Young So, anytime we get that many kids on campus it’s really good for our university.”

MSSU stretched this camp through four courts. For Missouri Southern, it gives them a chance to showcase their facilities for future Lions whether it’s to be an athlete or not.

Lawson Jenkins said, “Yeah I think it’s a really good deal for the high school kids they get to see all our facilities, get to be here play on our floor, get to talk to the coaches some, get to interact with the players some so it’s a good deal for them.”

Barron Duda said, “I think as like a team we all kind of enjoy coming to these places and just saying different teams, as we play them. I think it’s a great opportunity for us like play in this atmosphere and just, you know, to be in a college setting.”