Is the Lute Olson Skill Camp on or off? When does Kevin O'Neill come to Tucson and what does one insider think about his addition to the UA program? Which 2008 and 2009 recruits have been visited by Arizona's coaches this week? Where will the coaches be this weekend? Are there any UA recruits who will not be at the Arizona Cactus Classic? All those questions are answered in today's notebook.

Lute Olson Skill and Development Camp news

For the past few months, the chances of Arizona hosting the Lute Olson Skill and Development Camp this summer didn't look promising. A series of Nike basketball camps running from June 25-July 2nd and July 7th-10th along with a summer of AAU tournaments put the camp's immediate future in jeopardy.

However, with the help of Video & Recruiting Coordinator/Administrative Assistant Matt Brase and Director of Basketball Operations Jesse Mermuys, the Skill Camp will be back this year, taking place from Thursday, August 16th to Saturday, August 18th.

Brase and Mermuys are in charge of running the event, which coincides with the Lute Olson All-Star Weekend and alumni basketball game, which will be held on Sunday, August 19th.

Ex-Director of Basketball Ops Jack Murphy was in charge of running the camp the past two years, and both times the event was considered a significant success. Brase and Mermuys plan on running the camp similar to the way Murphy did.

"Coach Olson likes the format we've done in the past so we're going to keep it the same," Brase said.

On Thursday, the recruits will check in and there will be a practice session that night. There's a practice session scheduled Friday morning and in the afternoon there will be a series of pickup games with the campers and UA alumni.

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