Utah Jazz player visits junior ballers in Pocatello

POCATELLO — Junior Jazz players in Pocatello got the chance to meet a Utah Jazz player at Pocatello High School Monday.

It wasn’t Rookie of the Year runner-up Donovan ‘Spida’ Mitchell – although a camper resembled Mitchell’s nickname.

“The fact that (a kid) came to a basketball camp in a Spiderman outfit – I mean, that takes a lot of effort, and guts, and he did that, and I thought that was the best part of the day,” said Jazz forward Georges Niang.

After signing a two-way deal with the Jazz and their G-League team in Salt Lake City, Niang signed a standard contract with the Jazz in July.

He led their summer league team in scoring this year, and coming to Idaho has shown him how far the Jazz fan base reaches.

“The outreach that the Utah Jazz organization have is tremendous. I mean, just the fact that I’m driving three, four hours up here and there’s still Utah Jazz fans is pretty amazing,” said Niang.

Niang took the kids through drills, giving tips and giving support, and even got out there to play a little bit.

But beyond the basketball, Niang and the Jazz want this regional tour to teach kids how to be good teammates on and off the floor.

“Showing them that being a good person and really communicating, and sharing with each other is a way to have fun. And I think that we showed that today and I think that’s the biggest message we’re trying to get across is being a good person, sharing, and having good character is something that takes you a long way,” said Niang.