Jordan Brown has the final weekend of May circled on the calender.

Not only will the former Whitehorse resident will be returning to the Yukon for the first time in more than four years, but he will also be leading a basketball development camp, starting on May 29.

The sessions will run for three days and are part of a program Brown started, along with Greg Wallis, after his college playing career. Wallis is a former CIS All-Star and B.C. male university player of the year.

The Passion Sports Basketball Academy is taught from a players perspective and has a mixture of skills, drills and games to help improve the abilities of the participants, Brown said.

Brown and Wallis will be accompanied by Cyril Indome, who is a the captain of the Camosun College Men's team.

This will mark the first time the Passion Sports Basketball Academy has held a camp outside of B.C.

"Basketball has always been a huge part of my life, right from Grade 7," said Brown, who left the Yukon in his senior year to play in B.C. "It's just a nice chance to come back and give back."

The basketball academy primarily works out of St. Michaels University in Victoria, Brown said.

He said nothing will be different about the Whitehorse version, which has three main age categories: seven-10, 11-13 and 14-17.

Brown, who is a two-time Basketball Yukon Athlete of the Year and a former Camosun College team captain, said he hopes to expand his basketball program to communities across Western Canada. His goal is to build more partnerships with cities like Whitehorse.

In addition to the the games and drills, Brown said the basketball academy discusses goal setting, proper nutrition and strength and conditioning.

Brown said the main appeal for holding a camp in Whitehorse was the long-standing connections that he made playing high school basketball.

"My greatest mentors were kids who were usually older than me," he said. "If it was in Grade 7 it was the seniors; when I was in Grade 11, it would be kids that were coming back who might have been playing outside the territory at a college level.

"So really just to bring back that mentorship and inspiration to those kids now, so they can see directly what it's going to take for them to get out of the territory and play at a university or college."

Sean McCarron coached Brown for two seasons as a member of the Vanier Crusaders and has no shortage of memories during that time.

"The biggest thing with Jordan that stands out is he probably the most passionate, dedicated player I have seen," McCarron said. "He would be at the top of the list and I have been here for 10 years and I know for certain that at our school and kids that I have coached, he was certainly the most dedicated."

McCarron wasn't the slightest bit surprised that Brown started the academy a couple of years ago.

"He was always an amazing role model," McCarron said. "Not only did he love basketball, but he actually loved teaching.

"He's the reason why a number of our younger players excelled at the sport."

McCarron's memories include Brown helping Vanier beat a tough team from Haines, Alaska when he was in Grade 11.

In the game against Vanier, Brown lost one of his teeth, but continued playing for the remainder of the contest.

He said Brown always was conscious about improving as a player and practised, on a number of occasions, during lunch and after school.

"He really worked at every aspect of his game and he was never satisfied with just being the best in his class or in his grade, he always wanted to be better," McCarron said. "He had dreams that were beyond just Vanier school and he always wanted to know what he needed to do to improve."

McCarron, who helped promote the weekend basketball camp, said he is excited about the possibilities.

"To have three young guys who are energetic and passionate and who, at least in terms of Jordan, who I know can teach the game is just such a nice change from a lot of the same faces, including my own," he said. "It's so much more powerful when you are teaching or coaching and you are trying to be inspiring if you are 22 (years old), compared to 34."

All of the camp's sessions will be held at F.H. Collins Secondary School.

Registration for the basketball camp can be done at Sport Yukon (4061 4th Avenue).