AJ Storr played high school basketball in Kankakee and Las Vegas. He played prep school basketball in Arizona and a post-graduate year in Florida. He’s been a college basketball star at St. John’s and Wisconsin before moving next year to Kansas.
But he’s not from any of those places. He’s from Rockford. And proud of it. Storr, and his equally well-traveled star sister, will return to Rockford to hold a free youth basketball camp at the downtown YMCA from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 10.
“I remember where I came from,” said Storr, who was on the freshman team at Rockford Lutheran before his family moved to Kankakee but never played a varsity game in Rockford. “I fell in love with the game of basketball in Rockford, Illinois. I want to help the kids out there who have big dreams, to help them take this basketball thing to the next level.
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“We’ve got so many memories playing basketball, mainly at the YMCA, where the camp will be held at. Holding the camp there is a surreal feeling. The YMCA is where we spent most of our time playing basketball.”
Storr held his own youth camp last summer at Wisconsin but is excited to hold this one in conjunction with his older sister.
“We are really close,” Storr said. “From first through fifth grade, we always played on the same basketball team. We’ve always had a strong bond. We are just trying to give back to the community and guide kids in the right direction.”
Ambranette Storr is the only sophomore to be named first-team All-State by The Associated Press in Rockford history. The 5-foot-9 guard averaged 23.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals and shot 53 percent at Lutheran when she was named to the 2018 Class 3A All-State team. She played her final two seasons for Kankakee and finished with 2,913 career points, 12th in state history for Illinois girls basketball.
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Ambranette Storr started at Drake, then played for two junior colleges before not playing much at Detroit Mercy the last two years. She is now a graduate student and will play this year for Southwest Baptist University.
“She had a couple of tough injuries that pushed her back a little bit,” AJ Storr said of his sister. “She is going to get right back on track. She is a hard worker. I know she is going to go to her new college, work hard, compete and make the best of her situation.”
While Ambranette was an immediate high school star but has yet to make a big mark in college, AJ has been the exact opposite. He didn’t have a single NCAA Division I offer before his junior season but became a top-150 recruit almost instantly after moving to live with his father in Las Vegas his senior year.
He made the Big East all-freshman team at St. John’s, but transferred after the school fired the coach who recruited him. Storr transferred to Wisconsin, where he made second-team All-Big Ten as a sophomore, picked on both the media and the coach’s teams. He averaged 16.8 points and 3.9 rebounds. The Badgers were ranked as high as No. 6 in the nation at one point, but faded late and lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Now, Storr will play at Kansas, which is being predicted by many to open the season as the No. 1 team in the nation.
“It was pretty easy to pick Kansas,” Storr said. “I took a visit to Kansas in high school so was already familiar with the coaching staff. Kansas is a great program and I can come and make an immediate impact. It was kind of a no-brainer for me.”
The Storr siblings’ camp is for kids ages 6 to 14. AJ said he never went to a camp himself when he was that young, but thinks it is the perfect age for him to help others.
“I want to stay in touch with the youth. The youth is the future of everything,” said Storr, who hopes to attract up to 200 boys and girls this year and also hopes to make his youth camps an annual event.
“I want to install motivation,” he said. “Try to be a leader to the kids if they want mentorship. I want to motivate the kids, let them know you can achieve anything in the world as long as you work at it, have faith in yourself and stay focused on it. My sister and I are hoping to hear any questions they have for us. Hopefully, there will be some girls there who will engage with my sister. I am here to answer any question they have.
“We want to impact them and motivate them to chase their dreams.”
Storr Siblings Basketball Clinic
- Day: Saturday, Aug. 10, 2020
- Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
- Where: Downtown YMCA, 200 Y Blvd., Rockford, IL 61107
- Cost: Free, for the first 200 or so to sign up
- Ages: 6 to 14
- How to attend: Although the 3-hour clinic is free for kids ages 6 to 14, you have to pre-register. Due to limited space, walk-ups will not be accepted. To register, email: ajamberclinicrockford@gmail.com .
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Basketball stars AJ and Ambranette Storr return to Rockford to hold free youth clinic
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