Lakeview Basketball Academy (LBA) is far from a typical basketball camp. It’s a launching pad for young men from around the world chasing their dreams of playing college basketball.

LBA found a home at the Florida Elks Youth Camp & Smith Conference Center in Umatilla, where players train for a year under the leadership of academy owner/Coach Douglas Leichner, who brings more than three decades of coaching experience at the high school, college and professional levels.

“This is a serious, full-time environment,” Leichner says. “Our players train daily, study film, lift weights and shoot at night. They’re putting in 12-hour days. It’s not casual. It’s for those who want to maximize their potential.”

The academy, which is in its second year in Lake County, serves as a post-graduate program for high school athletes who need a gap year, or time to develop physically, mentally and emotionally before committing to a college program. 

From September through March, the academy functions like a full-season college team.

Leichner says partnering with the Elks was a perfect fit.

“Pat Burke, a former NBA player who now works at Beacon College, told me about the setup here with the Elks,” he says. “He said it could be a great situation and he was right. The Elks were very receptive and the partnership has been a win-win for both sides.”

The Elks campus provides dorm-style housing, meal services and practice facilities. It’s everything players need to live and train full-time.

“They eat here, sleep here and train here,” Leichner says. “It’s our own little basketball bubble.”

The idea for LBA was conceived during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when student-athletes around the country found themselves without competition or exposure.

“In a lot of states, seasons were shut down completely,” says Leichner, who had just returned from coaching professionally overseas when he recognized the gap. “Florida was one of the few that stayed open, so I was able to attract players from the Midwest and elsewhere who needed a place to train, get film and keep improving. That’s really how this all started.” 

He focused on recruiting talented players who didn’t have opportunities to play in college simply because they hadn’t been seen. What began as a short-term fix quickly evolved into a long-term mission.

“Now, with so many older players staying in college longer because of eligibility extensions, there’s a real need for younger players to find a bridge year,” he says. “That’s where we come in.”

Players who join Lakeview come from all walks of life and all corners of the globe. This year’s roster includes athletes from Florida, New Jersey, Connecticut, Iceland, the United Kingdom, Ireland and New Zealand.

Brenden Shaw and Caleb Godwin say that the academy has been life changing.

“It’s an amazing program,” Brenden says. “My trainers knew Coach Leichner and told me he was the real deal. We’ve got great facilities, a great coaching staff and they put us in the right spots to get recruited.”

Brenden, a 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Orlando, has already drawn interest from several college programs, including Virginia Military Institute, Florida A&M and Fort Valley State.

Caleb, a 6-foot-1 combo guard from Tallahassee, said he came to LBA knowing he needed an extra year to develop.

“There are a lot of older guys in college now and I just knew I needed this year to get better and get stronger,” he says. “The coaches do an amazing job of putting us in the right position to be seen.”

Leichner says that the most powerful stories are ones where basketball truly changes a life, like a player from Oklahoma who was working third shift at Amazon, unsure of what was next. 

“I recruited him and said, ‘Come here, and we’ll get you an education and a real shot at college ball,’” Leichner says. “He came for a year, went on to junior college and then transferred up. Now he’s playing Division I basketball and through NIL (Name, Image and Likeness), he’s earning six figures. That’s life-changing.”

Stories like that fuel the program’s mission.

“It’s not Division I or bust,” Leichner says. “It’s about finding the right fit, be it NAIA (National Association for Intercollegiate Athletics), Division 1, Division 2 or Division 3, whatever gives them the best education and experience. Our goal is to get them to the next level.”

Last year, every player who completed the LBA program advanced to play in college, an impressive accomplishment.

While the focus is on player development, Leichner says the personal bonds that form are just as important.

“The bonding is real,” he says. “They come in as individuals and leave as family. The experiences they share here stay with them for life.”

That same philosophy extends to his coaching staff, who are also using this experience to advance their careers. Associate Head Coach Rodney Jackson and Assistant Coach Jack Curran are both former players who’ve been with Leichner since the beginning.

“They’ve been invaluable,” Leichner says. “Their loyalty, work ethic and commitment have been huge for our success. A lot of times assistant coaches don’t get enough credit, but we couldn’t do this without them.”

Leichner hopes to grow Lakeview Basketball Academy into a larger local presence by opening commuter spots for players who live in Lake County and eventually adding a women’s program.

“I’d love to see more local kids take advantage of this,” he says. “They don’t have to live here full-time. They can commute and still get the same exposure and training. There’s so much talent in Lake County.”

Off the court, players take trips to local colleges and community attractions, giving them a taste of campus life and the region they represent.

“We want them to have a full experience,” Leichner says. “They’re not just learning basketball. They’re learning how to live on their own, how to handle responsibility and how to work as part of something bigger than themselves.” 

Find out more at Lakeviewbasketballacademy.com. 

Photos: Cindy Peterson