Pocatello resident and professional basketball player Tai Wesley is bringing a skills camp to town for local youth to train with him and other pro athletes.

The basketball camp, Basketball and Beyond, will be held at the Mountain View Event Center on Aug. 15 to 17 from 9 a.m. and noon daily.

Wesley and his former teammate, Gary Wilkinson, started the basketball camp in Utah, 12 years ago when they were student athletes at Utah State University. It’s been successful there, so the pair is keeping the coaching style they’ve been using and hoping for the same result here in Pocatello.

“We don’t just focus on basketball. We try to implement a skill or a characteristic that the kids can use and work on outside of basketball,” Wesley said. “I’m not sure what our focus will be for the Pocatello camp, but our focus this year for our Utah camp a couple weeks ago was self-belief.”

Wesley has been living in Pocatello on-and-off for several years because his wife, Chyna, is from here. Now, the couple, along with their four children are here full time and looking to engage with and give back to the community.

Wesley and Wilkinson have played basketball in Greece, Korea, Estonia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico and Russia over their careers. The pair is now retired from the sport professionally. Wesley owns OLO Builders, a construction company in Pocatello, and Wilkinson works at Cache Valley Bank in Utah.

While the basketball players have new jobs now, their passion for basketball remains strong, and they want to use that to help the next generation.

“I have a passion for basketball and sharing what I’ve learned over the last 20 years of playing basketball,” Wesley said. “I’ve played at every level, so I think that I have a lot to offer, and I think our campers will get a lot out of it.”

The camp costs $75 per camper and can accommodate about 150 kids, both boys and girls, ages 6 to 18.

“I don’t think you can find another camp that has the experience that we do as far as the levels we’ve reached in basketball,” Wesley said. “Plus, I think we have the most fun. We’re raising our kids here, so I want this to be annual and we want kids to come back because they had a good experience.”

For more information or to register, visit www.meceventcenter.com.