Registration Deadline Is Monday For Milt Newton’s Free Youth Basketball Clinic

ST. THOMAS — When Milt Newton arrived on St. Thomas last year to set up the third annual Emerald Gems Foundation youth basketball camp, he was still unsure of his NBA future but, as always, was glad to be home.

So much has changed for the Virgin Islands since then and for Newton personally, as two devastating hurricanes hit the territory, while Newton’s career found a new home.

Newton received the call offering his current position as assistant general manager with the Milwaukee Bucks while having dinner with his cousin on St. Thomas last July.

So much has changed since then at both of his homes, but Newton will be back on St. Thomas with his wife, Shalaun, putting on the fourth annual Emerald Gems Foundation youth basketball camp July 31-Aug. 3 at Ivanna Eudora Kean High School on St. Thomas.

The free camps for 8-13 year-olds are July 31 and Aug. 1, while the 14-17 camps are Aug 2-3. The registration deadline is Monday and information is available at Emeraldgemsfoundation.com.

“We felt it was really important for Emerald Gems to be present this summer and that’s our plan to make sure that we’re visible this summer and doing whatever we can to be present,” Newton said Friday. “We say our camps use basketball as a vehicle for positive experiences and to learn.”

Now in the Milwaukee front office, Newton can not only share his experiences using basketball to get from the Bordeaux neighborhood in the V.I. to the top of the basketball world, but also the story of a global basketball icon on the Bucks.

Newton has seen firsthand the rise of Giannis Antetokounmpo, the 23-year-old All-Star from Greece, who grew up poor and half a world away from the American basketball scene.

“He’s an incredibly hard worker,” Newton said of the “Greek Freak.”

“He came up hard. I guess the message would be: It doesn’t matter your circumstance. You can work hard, and if you get a few breaks along the way, you can be whatever it is that you want to become.”

Newton was a former national championship player at Kansas and was an NBA executive with the Washington Wizards and Minnesota Timberwolves. He also represented the Virgin Islands in international competitions during his playing days.

To learn more about the foundation, and to make a donation, visit emeraldgemsfoundation.com.