CAIRO, Ga. (WTXL) - In 2004, Cliff Hammonds graduated from Cairo High School. The AAAA Player of the Year in Georgia his senior season, he went on to a successful basketball career at Clemson before playing overseas. Hammonds most recently played in the NBA's Development League, and although he's played literally all over the world, he knows he can always come back home.
"This is the community that raised me," he said Thursday at his annual Skillz Camp, which he hosted this week for the fifth straight year. "I mean, I grew up 8th grade to 12th grade here in Cairo, my parents are from nearby Whigham, and you know, this is home for me."
Seventy campers learned from Hammonds this week, some coming from the surrounding areas, but most call Cairo their hometown too, and to have someone like Hammonds to look up too, is pretty cool.
"I never saw him play, I guess that he's been telling us stories and everything that he's very good so I believe him," said 11-year-old camper Braylon Robinson, who's come to every camp.
"He's from Cairo," said Jalon Spence, who admitted it's nice of Hammonds to give back. "He came back and helped us how to play basketball."
"I'm not used to being admired like that," laughed Hammonds. "To hear a kid say I want to be like him one day, that's why I do the camp, just so I can have them come out and say if he did it, I can do it. "
Those life lessons are a big part why Hammonds continues to give back, as it's not just skills on the court he's trying to teach these kids.
"If one or five, or all seventy of them come out and say hey, I aspire to play in the NBA, to play college basketball, to go to college period, that's great," he said. "I just want to give them some type of inspiration and something to look forward to each year. We're going to try and do this thing as long as we can with the community support."
The 5th Annual Skillz Camp wraps up Friday. As fair as his own career? Hammonds said he is waiting to see what's next, be it training camp from an NBA team in the fall, or heading back overseas.
