For years, the bond between a father and his son has been forged around a campfire or on the hunting grounds, but K-State's Department of Intercollegiate Athletics is trying to bring fathers and sons together on the basketball court.

Boys grades kindergarten through eighth grade and their fathers stepped onto the floor of Bramlage Coliseum on June 13-14 with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

Dave Paulson, 43, and son Jake, 10, of Charlottesville, Va., attended the camp for the second-straight year.

"We are most excited about learning some drills that we can do together in the driveway," said Dave.

Jake shared his enthusiasm. "The camp is a lot of fun," he said.

The Father-Son Basketball Camp was started under former K-State basketball coach, Jim Woolridge, and Bob Huggins carried on the tradition. Since Huggins departed for West Virginia last year, his replacement, Frank Martin, has also continued the camp.

Andy Assaley, director of basketball operations, came to K-State from Cincinnati with Huggins and said he was not sure if they were going to continue to offer the basketball camp.

"We were uncertain of how it was going to go," said Assaley. "We had so much fun doing it that it has become far and away my favorite camp."

The number of father-son tandems was limited to 100 pairs, said Assaley, because the coaches and players wanted to be able to interact with the campers.

"We wanted to teach the dads, so that they may better teach their sons," Assaley said. "But the focus of the camp is to allow fathers and sons the chance to bond with basketball being the centerpiece."

Assaley and a staff of college and high-school basketball coaches, along with some returning K-State basketball players, led the camp. An emphasis was placed on the teaching of fundamentals.

Jacob Pullen, sophomore guard, was one of the returning players that worked side by side with the children.

"I watched the camp last year, but I was unable to work at it," Pullen said. "This year I am able to work with the kids and am just happy to be here."

Along with the father-son camp, K-State is offering two more basketball camps this summer. Those camps include an Overnight Individual Camp on June 26-29 and a Day Camp on July 14-17.