When Peter Dourdas met Jimmy Boeheim about 10 years ago, Boeheim could not shoot. He had little speed or quickness, and opposing players and fans in youth games told him, “You stink,” Dourdas said.

“I was small and not very good,” the now 6-foot-8 Boeheim said. “But Mr. Dourdas got me hooked on basketball. It made me really competitive and laid the groundwork. I’m forever grateful for what he did.”

What he did was help transform the oldest child of Syracuse’s Hall of Fame coach into a Division I player. Dourdas drilled him on ball handling and form shooting, using screens effectively and creating space for others. Jimmy Boeheim plays at Cornell these days, but not before he worked out with Dourdas for many Saturday sessions at the Syracuse Downtown YMCA. His younger brother, Syracuse commit Buddy Boeheim, would join in.

The YMCA is where the foundation for Jimmy and Buddy’s playstyles were born. Since Brandon Triche was 10 years old, he trained with Dourdas at the Jewish Community Center in Dewitt before he became a four-year starter for the Orange. Former SU star and 2010 NBA draft pick Andy Rautins’ shot was refined by Dourdas. Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph, the senior duo that led the Orange to the No. 1 ranking for six weeks in the 2011-12 season, both had their games molded by Dourdas in nondescript gyms.

“He’s always about repetition,” said Eric Devendorf, former Syracuse guard and current assistant strength and conditioning coach whose shot was improved by Dourdas. “He’s a smart guy who knows the game, and he’s had a big impact on the program.”

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While he does not work with a current member of the SU men’s basketball team, Dourdas trained soon-to-be-freshman Buddy Boeheim as recently as last summer. The secret to some of Syracuse’s success over the past decade is rooted in Dourdas, a financial planner by day, basketball trainer by night. A former Wall Street financial guru, Dourdas has worked with about one dozen former and future Syracuse players, voluntarily. He said he currently works with 250 youth players in the Syracuse area. NCAA rules restrict players from paying third-party trainers such as Dourdas. He said he has not been paid by a Syracuse player and trains them without charge.

Dourdas, 58, emphasizes fundamental drills that mimic the movements needed in the game. His nickname in basketball circles is Pistol Pete, a nod to five-time NBA All-Star Pete Maravich, who dazzled fans with creative scoring and passing. Dourdas himself was a three-year varsity starter at point guard for nearby Marcellus High School, starred at Onondaga Community College and played professionally in Greece.

He doesn’t promise his clients much, telling them nothing will replace regular workouts. His wiry 5-foot-9 frame contrasts with some of the sky-scraping athletes he has worked with, but it hasn’t stopped him from earning the trust of some of Syracuse’s most notable players over the past decade. His goal is to create habits and work ethic among players, and to intensify workouts so much that the games become cerebral and automatic. As word spread through the insular Syracuse basketball community, Dourdas started getting referrals from a line of SU players, local parents and coaches.

“I started this company six, seven years ago, and it just went crazy,” said Dourdas, referencing his firm, Elite Basketball Training. “You have to have peace of mind in what you’re doing and be happy every day. I get hundreds of emails, texts, saying thank you coach. It’s priceless. That’s why I bring this passion to training. There’s a tremendous need to teach the game the right way and not put the cart before the horse.”

Back in the summer of 2009, Arinze Onuaku worked a summer job at the Downtown YMCA. Onuaku was a 6-foot-9 center entering his senior year for the Orange, after a season in which he shot just 29 percent from the free-throw line. One day he walked up to Dourdas, a member of the YMCA since he was 12 years old, for some help.

“I told him to come here every day at the same time,” Dourdas said.

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Onuaku showed up every day for about 90 minutes. They worked exclusively on foul shots, analyzing his mechanics and performing countless form-shooting drills. Dourdas sat Onuaku on chairs underneath the basket to emphasize form. Dourdas rebounded for him. Onuaku shot 42.9 percent from the line his senior season for an SU team that went 30-5.

“That really felt good for me,” Dourdas said. “When I first started on Wall Street I made $1,500 in 45 minutes. But you don’t get the same satisfaction as a kid telling you he made the team.”

As youth basketball games are often dominated by one-on-one matchups, 3-point shootouts and little offensive movement, Dourdas wants to flip the progression. He teaches his players how to set off-ball screen and knock down short jumpers, before pushing out to the 3-point line. He begins his training sessions, both one-on-one and small group, by lining up the kids. He teaches them to shake his hand firmly with eye contact, a trait he encourages them to carry on for life.

Dourdas meets clients at public gyms, but he said he hopes to one day open up his own facility, where he would serve underprivileged children who cannot afford to pay for personal trainers.

“It’s difficult and it hurts because I can’t reach everybody,” he said. “I can’t touch everybody, but I’m hoping to connect with the inner-city kids.”

He doesn’t advertise his services and employs nobody but himself. He has a modest website and just got a Facebook page last year. When he gets home, he talks about his workouts with his family. Basketball training books sit on his nightstand and tapes of popular drills stack up near a TV. He once fell asleep with a basketball book in his hand, his wife, Kathy, said.

Why Dourdas has not moved up to the college or level or other lucrative positions traces back to his introduction to the game. Growing up on Syracuse’s Westside, he found the Downtown YMCA at age 12, by accident. He devoted nearly every day of his childhood to play and he’s been hooked to the game ever since. Now, Dourdas has little care for money or possessions, and he has never complained about his training, which can devour his evenings and weekends, Kathy said.

“He’s still like the little kid who grew up on the Westside,” Kathy said. “When we had our kids, our home was a place everybody migrated for basketball. With his clients, he feels like it’s his own kid that made the seventh-grade team when he gets that thank-you call.”

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A few weeks ago Dourdas drove with his son, former SU walk-on guard and current SU junior Evan Dourdas, to Cortland. It was a snowy night, but Dourdas had a mission down Interstate 81: He had to see his client Madeline Frank, a junior playing at SUNY Oneonta. She said he was the first person to text her an encouraging line after the game. Because of Dourdas’ training, Frank said she went from averaging four points per game to almost a double-double. They work out every day for two hours in the summer on everything from her follow-through to her crossover to cutting to the rim.

“I don’t know where I’d be without him,” Frank said.

Dourdas organized pickup games for the kids in his neighborhood, including Nick Pascale, a former neighbor, client and player at Colgate. Another non-Syracuse standout with whom Dourdas has trained is Denzel Gregg, a former St. Bonaventure forward playing professionally overseas. Gregg remembers his first AAU game with one of Dourdas’ teams. He went 1-for-14 from the field on only layups and fouled out. Gregg said he sat on the bench and cried.

“He looked at me crying and said, ‘I didn’t think you’d be like that. You look like you’re going to quit. Come on,” Gregg recalled Dourdas telling him. “I’ll always remember that,” Gregg said later.

“Every coach does the same drills,” Gregg said. “It’s more how he does them. I’ve never had as hard a coach as Mr. Dourdas. His intensity. How he pushed you to be a better you. He treated us like men and had a passion that made us earn his trust.”

Buddy Boeheim also remembers one of the first encounters he had with Dourdas. When Boeheim first began going to the YMCA, he shot with both hands in a catapult motion from behind his head. They worked on his shot, creating off the dribble and moving without the ball. Buddy progressed from high school reserve to stand out who averaged 26.3 points and 9.8 rebounds at Jamesville-DeWitt High School last season. He will play for his father in 2018-19, where he said his goal is to win a national championship.

“Mr. Dourdas helped me fall in love with the game,” Boeheim said. “He really helped me and my brother become great players.”

Published on January 29, 2018 at 11:47 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21