Donte DiVincenzo returns to Delaware for inaugural basketball camp

The first whistle blew and the warm-up drills started at center court inside the 76ers Fieldhouse in Wilmington.

Along one sideline, a blond-haired boy no more than 10 was stretching as John DiVincenzo stood nearby. The boy was wearing a No. 9 Milwaukee Bucks jersey with the name "DiVincenzo" on the back.

It wasn't long ago, he said, that he was taking his son, Donte, to basketball camps.

Now, kids in Wilmington were wearing Donte's NBA jersey.

"Isn’t it amazing? It’s a fairy tale," John said.

"I just watched him grow and do all this stuff and now he’s teaching other kids and just the smiles that these kids have on their faces, it makes my heart happy."

Donte is back in Delaware this week hosting the inaugural Donte DiVincenzo Summer Basketball Camp. The four-day camp is for boys and girls age 7 to 17.

"It’s amazing to be back home for this first camp," Donte said. "We have a great turnout of kids and I just can’t wait to spend a lot of time with them this week."

DiVincenzo, the two-time state champion at Salesianum, is running the camp with the help of Trevor Cooney, director of courts for BPG|Sports and former Sanford School and Syracuse University standout.

DiVincenzo said he remembered Cooney being a counselor at a camp he attended when he was younger.

"I was this little kid," he said. "I had guys I was looking up to."

The idea for the Wilmington camp, DiVincenzo said, came before Milwaukee drafted him with the 17th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He told his agent he wanted to do it, but the agent advised him to "slow your roll and wait a little," DiVincenzo said.

With Cooney mostly running the camp, DiVincenzo was able to move around from group to group.

"The biggest thing for me is I want them to leave with a smile on their face," he said.

DiVincenzo said it was good to be home, but he'd be leaving for Milwaukee over the weekend. Training camp begins at the end of September and DiVincenzo has a lot of work to do to get ready for the 2019-20 NBA season. His Bucks and hometown 76ers are favorites to win the Eastern Conference and get to the NBA Finals.

DiVincenzo rose up NBA draft boards after scoring 31 points off the bench as Villanova defeated Michigan in the NCAA national championship game. He averaged a little over 15 minutes per game in 27 games during his rookie season before a heel injury cut it short.

He said he's feeling 100% now. The Bucks elected to not have him participate in the NBA Summer League.

LIVING THE DREAM: DiVincenzo forced to watch but still enjoying the ride

Milwaukee had a busy offseason. They signed Khris Middleton to a big contract and lost Malcolm Brogdon in free agency. But the Bucks, who have superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo, also added Wesley Matthews and Kyle Korver. DiVincenzo, who averaged five points per game, should still figure into the rotation, but there will be competition for minutes.

"I just want to get back on the court," he said. "It’s hard when you go from playing in the beginning of the year to just stopping."

John DiVincenzo, who coached Donte when he was younger, said it was hard watching him get injured last year but he was impressed with Donte's drive to return to action.

HOMECOMING: The Bucks play in Philly

The Bucks were John's favorite team growing up. "It was back in the antenna TV days," he said, and Lew Alcindor (who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and the Bucks were always on TV. There's a small "Fear the Deer" sticker on the back windshield of John's SUV. 

Monday morning, with a Bucks t-shirt on and a coffee cup in his hand, he watched for a few minutes as Donte kicked off the camp with opening remarks. It was hard to get the smile off his face.

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Contact Jeff Neiburg at jneiburg@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jeff_Neiburg.