Jimmy Baron Weighs In On Brother Billy And His Shooting Clinic

Jimmy Baron Weighs In On Brother Billy And His Shooting Clinic

Want to learn how to shoot a basketball? Why not learn from one of the best?

Former URI star Jimmy Baron and NBA trainer to the stars Rob McClanaghan will be teaming up this Saturday at Bishop Hendricken High School for the second annual “Shoot Like A Pro” clinic. The one-day basketball clinic is open to boys and girls between the ages of 9-18.

Baron, who is the URI and Atlantic Ten all-time leading three point shooter, currently plays professionally in Spain for Lagun Aro GBC in the ACB, which is one of the top European leagues.

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McClanaghan, a Rhode Island native who attended Syracuse, trains some of the top players in the NBA today. Among his top clients are Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant along with 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose from the Chicago Bulls.

McClanaghan also happens to be working with some players who are considered first round talent in this week’s NBA Draft. Among those he is working with is former Syracuse center Fab Melo who decided to turn pro after just two years in college. Melo could be a target for the Boston Celtics who have two picks in the first round and are in need of some quality big men.

McClanaghan also works with Baron which is part of the reason that they have teamed up to bring this valuable clinic back to their home state for young basketball players in the state of Rhode Island. “Me and Rob have been working together since my junior year in high school when he was an assistant at Hendricken,” said Baron. “He and I used to come into the gym before school at 6:30 in the morning and work out a few days a week.”

Jimmy Baron recently had a minor surgical procedure done on his knee and is looking forward to next season which happens to be the final year of his contract with. “I just had a little procedure done because the knee was bothering me but everything will be fine,” he said. He also chimed in on a few more topics.

It has been quite an interesting few months for the entire Baron family. First, his father Jim was fired as the men’s basketball coach at URI, then he was hired to lead the Canisius program in Buffalo. “My dad was there for 11 years and even though he did do a great job turning the program around, I understand that it’s a business,” Jimmy Baron said. “Because he didn’t make it to the NCAA’s, we understood the decision. I was okay when it happened but it was obviously tougher on Billy because he was there.”

Most recently, Jimmy’s brother Billy announced that he will be transferring from URI to play basketball elsewhere. However, Billy has not yet said what school he will be transferring to. “He’s trying to figure out now where he wants to go,” said Jimmy. “He’s out at Purdue now on a visit but everything is still unclear about whenter or not he’ll get a waiver from the NCAA because this isn’t his first transfer, it’s his second.”

When asked where Billy might be leaning toward, Jimmy said, “he still has to sort all of that out. If you go to a big school, you get all the perks, nice gym and all that stuff I like to call ‘fluff.’ He’s visited Purdue and Canisius and still has to sort out whether or not he wants to go to a big school or a small school.”

Meanwhile, Jimmy continues to plug along making a living as a pro in Spain where he was second on his team in scoring this past season at 12.1 points per game. And he is looking forward to Saturday’s clinic.

The clinic will strongly emphasize the fundamentals of shooting, shooting off of screens, shooting off of the dribble, shooting against defense and 3-point shooting as well.

The “Shoot Like A Pro” Clinic runs from 9am to 3pm on Saturday with registration beginning at 8am. The fee is $110 per player and there are still spots available. Those interested can e-mail [email protected] or simply show up Saturday morning at Bishop Hendricken.