Bryce Alford to feel right at home again in visit to Albuquerque

A decade has passed now since that magical, record-setting senior season of basketball Bryce Alford had at La Cueva High School.

There have been high-profile years spent playing at UCLA and several seasons under his belt in a strong overseas professional basketball playing career, not to mention his being married and a father to a 14-month-old son in Phoenix. And yet Alford’s New Mexico roots and that La Cueva DNA remain.

He always has proudly called Albuquerque his hometown and will be back again next week hosting his second Bryce Alford basketball camp back at La Cueva.

“I really enjoy any excuse I have for going back to Albuquerque. I use (the camp) because I don’t get to come back as much as I’d like,” Alford, 28, told the Journal on Wednesday. “Any way that I can give back to the youth, especially on the basketball side, because I know how I know how much the community there loves basketball, is good for me.”

Registrations are still being accepted for the camp, the second Alford has held at his old high school. It runs Monday through Thursday (July 17-20) at La Cueva, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with lunch provided. It is open to boys and girls in third through ninth grades — a demographic probably not all that familiar with the namesake of the camp they’ll be attending.

“Yeah, we’re banking on the parents remembering,” Alford joked.

As for his playing days, Alford is coming off his best professional season, averaging just a shade under 14 points and 4 assists this past year for Zastal Zielona Góra in the first division of Poland’s pro league.

He said he has several enticing offers for where he will play next and doesn’t yet have a set time frame on when he will hang up the sneakers.

“You know, I’ve been lucky (in my playing career),” Alford said. “I haven’t had any major injuries. So my body feels good. And I’m not somebody who jumps out of the gym as part of his game, so it’s not like I’m losing athleticism and it’s hurting. My game hasn’t changed. So, I feel like I can play for as long as I want to.”

He noted that while he still has a love for basketball, the birth of his son over a year ago did shift the perspective for the first time to basketball sometimes being a job. Decisions now are about finances and family — young A.J. and his wife, Ali, an Albuquerque native herself. He said he was fortunate to have both of them live with him during this past season in Poland.

For the immediate future, though, he feels there are still plenty of shots to shoot in a gym overseas somewhere. As such, he’ll be getting in some on-court workouts during the campers’ lunch hour next week.

“The shooting never goes away,” Alford said. “It’s when they start chanting ‘Dunk it! Dunk it! Dunk it!’ That’s when things get a little tougher now. But I’ll muster up a dunk or two for them. Who knows how long I’ll be able to do that?”

THOSE ALFORD BOYS: While Bryce and big brother Kory Alford, who just completed his third season coaching at Huntington, an NAIA school in Indiana, are still forging their own basketball paths, a new wave of Alford boys is about to take over.

Bryce’s son, A.J., is 14 months old and Kory and his wife Haley, also from Albuquerque, earlier this month welcomed their first child, a son named Kai.

And, like many grandparents, Steve and Tanya Alford are very much all in on their new roles.

“Oh, yeah, they love it,” Bryce said of his parents becoming grandparents. “My dad will find any excuse to get out to Phoenix and see A.J. They ask for FaceTime and videos about every other hour.”

WANNA CAMP? Registration and more details on costs and requirements for next week’s Bryce Alford camp can be found on the camp’s website at BryceAlfordBasketballCamp.com.