Kansas women's basketball senior Katie Smith, right, sits with campers as they watch the finals of a game of knockout. The action was part of Bonnie Henrickson's basketball camp Monday at Horejsi Center.

Danielle McCray stood right where they’re standing.

She sat and watched just like they do. She was bit older, a senior in high school, but she did the drills, met the coaches and played on the court she eventually would call home.

Now, McCray, a junior-to-be, and the rest of her Kansas University women’s basketball teammates have the chance to give back to the campers at the Jayhawk Individual Camp while taking something from it themselves.

“It’s a lot of fun,” McCray said. “Just meeting new people, doing different drills, and these little ones right here, I think they’re having so much fun just to play in front of a lot of people they don’t know and just to be at camp as well.”

Starting Sunday, campers as young as fifth grade began learning from McCray and her teammates. Some of the lessons include how to do certain drills or games, but some come off the court, too.

Mackenzie Morris, a 13-year-old camper from Salina, said she enjoyed the experience of interacting with college players.

“They know how they’ve dealt with things on the court,” Morris said, “whether they be shooting problems or anything like that.

“They can understand any difficult things we might be going through at our age. So, they can understand problems with those situations or problems with other people or anything.”

While many of the Jayhawk players spend their days in classes and all have morning workouts, the time afterward is spent working with campers.

After basketball sessions end, players spend time with campers in their dorm rooms. This can become the platform for players like McCray to make an impression on campers.

“Last night, I was kind of in their dorms just messing with them and talking to them,” McCray said. “Just kind of personal questions like where they’re from and stuff, and last night we had a dance contest.”

With so many youngsters around making noise and having fun, players find a way to be kids again right along with their campers. They play games, talk and just hang out.

The Individual Camp runs through Wednesday, with the Jayhawk Team Jamboree right behind it Saturday.

That gives McCray and the Jayhawks a little more time to make an impression, on and off the court.

“Just having kids look up to you,” McCray said of what she gets from the camp. “There’s a lot (of kids) that ask you questions about college and just being a role model for little ones : helping them out, and trying to get them better and keeping their heads straight”