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By Stephen Vincent
Cut from his seventh-grade basketball team and nearly cut again as a ninth-grader, Pine View senior-to-be Tyler McGinnis worked his way into a key role on last year's state championship team.
McGinnis said the key to his basketball success has been hard work and the time he spent in basketball camps. McGinnis has attended camps at Pine View, Dixie State College, BYU, the University of Utah, Utah State and in Pennsylvania and Houston.
McGinnis is taking what he learned in those camps, picking out the drills and activities he liked best and applying them in a camp of his own, which is running at Pine View High School, July 16-19.
Soon after the Panthers won the state championship, Tyler's little brother Ryan had his ninth birthday party. At that party, Tyler helped put together a basketball game, and Tyler discovered he enjoyed teaching his brother's friends about the game.
It was then that the idea of holding his own basketball camp began to formulate in Tyler's mind. Tyler realized several things: first, the basketball camp would be a sweet summer job; second, it would give him experience in running his own business; and, third, he could spend his summer doing what he enjoys most: playing basketball and teaching younger kids.
“People tell me, 'Do what you like to do because if you don't, you're going to get sick of it,'” McGinnis said.
A son of entrepreneurs, McGinnis didn't find the idea of working for someone else appealing.
“I always wanted to be my own boss,” he said, “so I figured this would be the best way to get started.”
McGinnis approached Pine View assistant coach Dale Larson with his idea, and Larson helped McGinnis make the arrangements for the camp.
McGinnis also enlisted some of his teammates to help out at the camp: Jordan Rex, Derek McLaws, Clark Robinson and Louis Garrett, who was an All-State selection last year. Larson will also be there to check on the progress of the camp.
“Jordan Rex has been helping me plan it, and he's excited about it,” McGinnis said. “And Louis always likes to dunk in front of the little kids.”
McGinnis said he may enlist more personnel, depending on how many people register.
The camp will last two hours each day. On the first day, McGinnis will split the participants into teams. During the first hour of each day, the teams will go to stations where they will run through different drills. The next hour is dedicated to games between the teams.
During the final 15 minutes each day, McGinnis will have camp-wide competitions.
On the final day, the camp will hold an awards ceremony, which parents are invited to attend. 
McGinnis said he wants to stress hard work to the kids.
“Hard work gets you places in basketball,” McGinnis said. “You can be as good as you want to be.”
McGinnis used hard work to accomplish what he has in basketball.
McGinnis said he mostly taught himself how to play the game. Still, he ended up being cut as a seventh-grader, and after barely making the team as a freshman, McGinnis knew he needed to keep improving if he was going to keep making the roster.
So McGinnis spent the summer between his freshman and sophomore seasons attending one basketball camp after another. He ended up starting that year on Pine View's sophomore team.
McGinnis made varsity as a junior but played sparsely at the beginning of last year, but he worked his way into the regular rotation by the time region started. He scored a season-high 15 points against Cedar on Feb. 2. But it was during the Panthers' championship run through the state tournament that McGinnis emerged as an indispensable part of Pine View's team.
McGinnis averaged 9.8 points in the tournament, including an 8-point performance in the low-scoring state championship game, a 45-38 win against rival Dixie in a crowded Burns Arena.
“It was crazy,” McGinnis of the state championship game. “I tried not to look at the crowd; it would have freaked me out. But it was fun afterwards talking to everyone.” 
McGinnis said what he enjoyed most about the season is how the Panthers grew as a team: from a squad no one picked to even win region to the team that ended up with the state title.
McGinnis aspires to have his own business one day, just as his parents, Shawn and Stacey McGinnis, owners of McGinnis Stucco, do. But he says he wouldn't mind coaching basketball some day.
For now, McGinnis' plan is to start college after a church mission and major in business.
The cost of the tournament is $65 for participants who sign up by July 9, and $75 for those who register afterward.
Registration forms are available at www.elitebasketballtraining.com.

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