Oswego's Stiles spends day training with NBA draft pick Frank Kaminsky

Lamont White knows talent when he sees it.

For 12 years, the Lisle-based personal trainer has been working with top athletes from elite collegiate programs like Notre Dame, Tennessee. His resume includes Ariel Massengale, who was recently selected in the WNBA draft by the Atlanta Dream in the third round. On Thursday, White can add to that list with Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky awaiting the upcoming NBA draft.

In addition to training, White also referees local basketball games, and that’s when Oswego resident Griffin Stiles caught his attention. White was impressed with the 14-year-old’s talents and invited him to a unique opportunity to spend the day training with Kaminsky.

“I said to myself, ‘That’s someone I can work with and he can be really good,’” White said of Stiles. “I would say 60 percent of my clients I find that way by refereeing and talking with the parents. They become my clients for life.”

A Benet graduate who returned to his hometown of Lisle, Kaminski scheduled a workout with White and selected VIPs.

“When Frank called me and told me he would be in town, I didn’t want it to be a circus,” White said. “I only told a few people that he was going to be there so they could learn from Frank. It was a serious training session. (Kaminsky) worked out just like all the others, and after we finished he took some pictures and signed some autographs. He’s getting ready for the draft and he called me to train, so it was serious business. I wanted the kids to see that if you work hard enough, things can happen.”

The experience is something that Stiles will take with him into the upcoming high school season.

“There were only about five people there, including Frank, and we did hurdle drills, ladder drills and we filled 10-pound bags with sand, put on a belt and had to run up a ski hill,” Stiles said. “(Kaminsky) said to just keep working at it. There’s no off days. Keep going and you can be like me.”

White is familiar with Oswego athletics having trained Ryan West, who will begin his junior season with the Grand Valley State football team and his brother Zach, who will be an incoming freshman on the GVSU men’s basketball team.

Stiles, who recently graduated from Thompson, will be part of the Class of 2019 and the next generation of Panther basketball players. The 6-foot-4 center is doing all he can in the offseason to prepare for the upcoming season.

He currently plays for Basketball Paradise, an AAU team based in Naperville.

“I’m looking forward to playing better competition and hopefully make varsity,” Stiles said. “I’m working with Basketball Paradise and I’m starting training three times a week with Lamont White. I’m going to start weight lifting in a couple weeks.”