COACHES
Nike Basketball Camp Director
Springfield, IL
Julian Gorens
Coach Julian Gorens was born and raised in Springfield Illinois. He grew up on the east side of Springfield, where basketball is the greatest sport in town. The area has produced legends in basketball, such as, Kevin Gamble who played in the NBA for years for the Boston Celtics, Ed Horton of the Washington Bullets and Andre Iguodala who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors as an All-Star, Champion and Finals MVP. There are several other athletes from Springfield Illinois that have played professionally overseas. After winning multiple state championships which started as early as grade school and middle school, Julian attended Southeast High School, where he started several varsity games as a freshman. He then transferred to Springfield High School his sophomore year to become a better student and athlete. Julian graduated from Springfield High in 1993 as an All-Conference player. He was ranked top 20 in the Country by Street Smith magazine as one of Americas top point guards. To improve his GPA, Julian attended Wabash Valley Junior College where he graduated as an honorable mentioned All-American.
Following his time at Wabash Valley, Julian chose to attend Arkansas Tech University. Due to several injuries that he sustained during his junior and senior year, he was only able to play 6-7 games his senior season. After having surgery to remove bone spurs from his feet, Julian underwent intensive rehabilitation which actually helped him become faster and stronger. In 2000, he graduated from Arkansas Tech University and was labeled as a restricted free agent in the NBA. He then moved to Atlanta Georgia and signed with a sports agency. During this time, he traveled throughout the country playing in various professional leagues such as the CBA, NBA Summer League and had private practices with the Bulls, Hawks and Bullets. After his first year, Julian decided to sign a contract which started his journey to play overseas for several years. He played in leagues in Norway, Germany, Mexico and Canada, just to name a few. Julian decided to come home and help provide for his daughter and family. Julian continued to play in the Semi-Pro leagues here in the U.S which includes the CBA, ABA, USBL, IBA, WBA and IBL.
Julian loves to support his hometown of Springfield, his family and coaches across Illinois. He has become obsessed in rehabilitation strength training and decided to become a certified professional trainer. He has been training kids and professional athletes for over 20 years and have been a basketball coach for over 10 years at a few local middle schools. He is currently the Junior Varsity Coach at Springfield High School and has been running professional basketball camps and clinics for over 20 years. He loves looking into an athlete’s eyes and being able to give back his skills and training through working with them. Julian says that he has had a lot of support to help him through his ups and downs, and knows that he has been blessed with some gifts and all that he desires to do with those gifts now is to give back.