WORDEN — Kevin Morales was back in his old stomping grounds this week.
The former four-time Class AA state champion Billings Skyview boys basketball coach and standout player at Huntley Project, where he won the 1999 Class B title, was back in Worden hosting basketball camps for athletes from kindergarten to seniors in high school.
“The one thing that I really want them to take away is some little drill or something they can learn from me or the other coaches here that they can do on their own time individually," Morales told MTN Sports. "Basketball nowadays, and all of these sports, are pretty much year-round, so you've got to practice on your own to keep going and stay competitive.
“So maybe take a drill or two from this week and use it on your own time."
Morales wasn’t alone in Worden, as he had several of his former Skyview players helping at the camp, such as RayQuan Evans, Zharon Richmond, Rhyse Owens and Lane Love, as well as recent graduate Zakai Owens.
“It gives me goosebumps. We talk about family a lot," Morales said. "To come back and see these guys as dads, these guys as husbands and see them going through college and all the lumps and bruises of growing and the stories, that's what it's all about. That's what I love."
Morales is hoping this can be an annual affair when he and his wife come back to Montana to visit family. Morales relocated to northern California a few years back and is patrolling the sidelines once again.
“I jumped back into coaching. Teaching, I'm a special ed teacher at a (Turlock) High School. The high school is about 2,500 kids. It's a big high school in northern California. I'm teaching special ed and I got back into coaching," Morales said.
"So I'm assistant coach at the high school on the boys side of things. I started a little youth travel ball out there, so we have a little youth program going in Turlock. It's called Turlock, California. It's a town of about 70,000 people. Me and my wife are just teaching and raising a family."
It was a pretty special opportunity for some local hoopers to learn from one of the finest to both play and coach in the Treasure State.
