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New Comet coach, former Comet star experience new gym while giving NE Iowa Basketball Camp

Press photo by John Burbridge Former Charles City all-stater Nate Buss shows one of two jerseys of his former professional team, Chemnitz 99 of Germany, which were given to ‘Hot Shot’ winners at the NE Iowa Basketball Camp, organized by first-year Comet coach Ben Klapperich, standing left of Buss.
Press photo by John Burbridge
Former Charles City all-stater Nate Buss shows one of two jerseys of his former professional team, Chemnitz 99 of Germany, which were given to ‘Hot Shot’ winners at the NE Iowa Basketball Camp, organized by first-year Comet coach Ben Klapperich, standing left of Buss.

By John Burbridge

sports@charlescitypress.com

CHARLES CITY — The sound of bouncing basketballs echoed throughout Charles City’s new gymnasium for the first time last Sunday during the Northeast Iowa Boys and Girls Basketball Camp.

And for the first time, new Comet coach Ben Klapperich and former Comet all-stater Nate Buss got court-level views while serving as camp instructors.

“We could have an extreme home-court advantage,” Klapperich said. “We can get up to 2,500 in here. There are only a handful of other gyms in the state that are like this one … and they’re all bigger schools.”

According to the former Rockford coach, his new “home court” has more upside than a blue-chip recruit.

“We’re still learning the capabilities,” he said. “The video scoreboard is iPad user friendly, which can allow us to use it during practices to review plays and drills in real time so we can make the corrections while we’re still here in the gym.”

Buss, who led the state in scoring his senior year with Charles City before becoming a valuable front-line player off the bench for the University of Northern Iowa Panthers, is also impressed, but …

“This is great and this school needed something like this for a long time,” Buss said. “Maybe I’m just being nostalgic … the old gym brings back a lot of memories for me. It was unique. There was really no other gym around like it.”

The camp originally was going to utilize both gyms.

“But with about 50 kids, we were able to get it all in here,” Klapperich said. “Another thing nice about this place is we can set up two full-courts with 3-point lines in here.”

Well, almost.

There was a little snag as one of the auxiliary backboards was still up in the rafters due to a malfunction in the motorized lowering-and-raising apparatus.

“Just one of the bugs that comes with something new,” Klapperich said.

The founder of the Iowa Ambush youth basketball program, Klapperich has decided to eschew coaching teams during the offseason.

“I want to focus more on camps … giving them and learning from others,” he said. “I like to attend as many as I can and take something from them to use for my own.

“If I see something that works, I’ll use it and maybe try to improve it.”

Kevin Clipperton, who coached North Butler’s girls team to two state championships, also served as a clinician.

“We have done several camps together,” Klapperich said of Clipperton.

This is the first time Klapperich has done a camp with Buss, and he was grateful to get someone with strong ties to Charles City basketball. He hopes to get other former Comet stars who’ve continued their careers at the collegiate and professional levels to be clinicians at future camps.

As for Buss, he was due to leave the country and hemisphere to continue his professional career with the Keravnos Basketball Club in Cyprus.

Last fall and winter after leaving UNI ranked No. 7 on the Panthers’ all-time free throw percentage list (80.6 percent), Buss played for Chemnitz 99 in Germany.

“I had to force myself outside of my comfort zone to be willing to play overseas to follow my dream,” Buss said. “It was tough, and German is a hard language to pick up.

“At least from what I’ve been told, there is more of a percentage of people who speak English in Cyprus.”

Aside from the language barrier and the culture shock of being in another country, Buss had to adjust to the spartan-like staffing of his first professional team.

“When you’re in college, you have all these people … coaches, assistant coaches, trainers, assistant trainers … to help you out when you need it. Over there, you have a coach and an assistant. Other than that, you’re on your own.”

Midway through his season with Chemnitz, Buss’s wife — Alexis — joined him in Germany.

“That’s what helped get me through my first season living in another country,” Buss said. “To be there all by myself would have made things even tougher.

“There are a lot of guys overseas who are trying to make it like me, but they don’t have a wife or girlfriend willing to come over with them. That’s why I’m very fortunate to have someone who’s willing to follow me across the world.”

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