REDMOND — It was not too long ago that Payton Pritchard was a youngster in West Linn attending basketball camps at different colleges with professional players in attendance.

Now it’s the 26-year old, four-year NBA veteran who is passing along his knowledge to the younger generation of basketball players.

“I was definitely around a lot of pros at a young age,” Pritchard said. “I took a lot from that, hopefully the same will happen.”

More than 100 elementary school- to high school-aged kids attended the Payton Pritchard Basketball Camp Wednesday at Ridgeview High School. The two 2 1/2 hour sessions were filled with skill work, competitions, a Q&A session, and of course, time at the end to get autographs and pictures with the former Oregon Duck turned NBA champion.

“Guys came out with the right attitude today,” Prichard said. “We got better today.”

Pritchard had a legendary career at West Linn High School, where he won four state titles and was Oregon’s Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year in both his junior and senior seasons. His stellar high school career turned into a stellar college career at Oregon, where he helped the Ducks reach the Final Four in 2017. He was named Pac-12 Player of the Year in 2020 and earned the Lute Olson and Bob Cousy Awards before getting drafted in the first round by the Boston Celtics. He averaged 9.6 points, 3.4 assists, and 3.2 rebounds per game during the Celtics’ run to the NBA championship this past season.

The camps that he is hosting in his home state with his friends that have been with him throughout his basketball journey include sharing the knowledge of what it takes to succeed on the basketball court. Pritchard hosted the camp at Ridgeview along with former Redmond High legend and Oregon alum Maarty Leunen, who had a long professional playing career overseas and is now the head boys basketball coach at Ridgeview.

“It is more about giving back to the youth, trying to give them something that I had growing up to help me be successful,” Pritchard said. “Hopefully I can help a couple of kids make it to the league by just giving them a little bit of knowledge. My hope is to grow (basketball in) the state.”

The campers went through dribbling drills, worked on different types of finishes around the rim, and played games of two-on-two, three-on-three and knockout.

Between the two sessions, Pritchard went through one of his personal workouts, working on different types of shots and 1-on-1 situations against different-sized defenders while mixing in free throws. It was only an hour workout, but it left his USA Basketball gear drenched in sweat.

It left an impression on 11-year-old Colby Morgan, who attends Crook County Middle School.

“It was cool because his work ethic sounded tough,” Morgan said. “I feel like if I tried to do that I would just get exhausted. He was a really hard worker. It was cool to see an actual NBA player workout.”

Pritchard said his goal was for the young hoopers to learn skills, the importance of practicing daily, how to deal with failure and ways to get better to reach higher levels of success on the basketball court.

“The work ethic and what it really takes to really make it there,” Pritchard said. “And how diligent you have to be even at a young age about having a routine and getting your work in first.”