CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – In its fifth year, Ty Jerome’s basketball camp saw the former Virginia national champion and current Memphis guard return to Charlottesville, imparting his skills and wisdom on a new class of young players.

The camp, which runs for four days and took place at Charlottesville High School this year, is organized by Jerome as well as Damin Altizer, the owner of DR1VEN Training and former head coach of the boys’ basketball team at St. Anne’s-Belfield.

Days are spent running drills with campers and developing skills before breaking out into gameplay and occasionally hearing from Jerome or other current and former Virginia players who have stopped by.

Seventh grader Quinn Poindexter, a student at the Covenant School, emphasized the fast-paced nature of the camp and how it creates a bond between campers.

“When you’re with the right group of people who actually want to competitively play basketball, it just makes it ten times more fun,” Poindexter said. “It brings everyone together into a real basketball community.”

Through an NBA offseason that is rife with movement and uncertainty, it offers Jerome – a New York native – a chance to feel grounded in the place he considers his second home.

“I kind of fell in love with this place,” Jerome said. “This gives me not an excuse, but a reason to come back here.”

Coming off of his first season with the Memphis Grizzlies – where he signed a three-year $28 million contract in July 2025 – and entering his eighth season in the NBA, Jerome is becoming a veteran in the league, which Altizer believes has been easier for the guard to embrace than being a rookie.

“Being the leader is his natural role,” Alitzer said. He has been training Jerome since his freshman year at UVA.

With two-time All Star point guard Ja Morant traded to the Portland Trailblazers and Duke forward and third draft pick Cameron Boozer headed to Memphis, Jerome’s next season offers an opportunity for the former Virginia champion to see the franchise through its current rebuilding phase.

This summer then is time for Jerome to focus on himself, working with Altizer and Kenny Szabo, director of sport performance at ADAPT, to hone skills and prevent injuries that have cropped up throughout his professional career.

Workouts at JPJ encompass improving his shots and efficiency, Altizer says. All efforts to adjust to a new roster and recent additions ahead of a busy trade and free agent season that opens July 1.

“There’s not that many people who are more professional when it comes to coming back from injuries,” Altizer said. “He’s always just been super industrious in his work ethic.”

But in returning to Charlottesville, his three years at Virginia never feel far off.

“Time goes by so fast,” Jerome said. “I can’t believe the national championship was 8 years away now.”

For 90 players, boys and girls between the ages of 9 and 14, the memory of that championship run is still present, visible in some who wear Jerome’s Virginia jersey or shirts from camps of years past.

Although the Tony Bennett chapter of UVa basketball has closed, enthusiasm remains high in seeing program alumni return, particularly in the wake of Virginia’s newfound success with Ryan Odom.

“They have a good thing going,” Jerome said, also noting that he looks forward to seeing newly drafted Detroit Pistons center Ugonna Onyenso on the court this coming season.

But beyond UVa and his professional career, Altizer believes Jerome’s offseason time in Charlottesville speaks to who he is at heart.

“It’s just kind of become a summer tradition that he comes back,” Altizer said. “Some guys, they leave, and they never come back, but he’s still a mainstay in Charlottesville.”