Position: Head Coach, Team Director
I started coaching basketball when my son Aaron was 5 years old. It was a way for me to spend time with my son, teach him the game and also to start instilling life lessons as he grew. It brought me back. Growing up I was dual sports athlete of basketball and baseball at Parker High School. I was also an All-Region my sophomore year through senior year of high school in both sports.I can recall my excitement for the game and I was thrilled to see that my son embracing basketball. We would play in leagues at the YMCA and also at the Boys and Girls Club in my local area. As my son grew, we decided to form a team based out of West Phoenix and incorporate as an official AAU team.
In 2004 Team ‘Zona was officially born. We started small, but as our success grew, we were itching to compete against teams outside of Arizona. Although we started from humble beginnings everything came to fruition when in 2011 we won our first National Tournament in Anaheim California.
Although my son has aged out of the program, we continue to work to enhance the lives of those in our program. We are proud of the fact that a high number of our athletes are playing overseas or collegiality here in the US. As Team ‘Zona continues to grow and I continue to learn I feel that my responsibility as the head coach and director of Team ‘Zona is to help the young men that come through this program to develop intellectually, culturally, socially and on the basketball court as well.
“My number-one responsibility is to make sure the guys that come through the program are students first, that they improve athletically, but they’re on track to graduate so they can move forward and have options, whether in education or even playing at the next level.”
My plan going forward is to continue to lead and direct this program to the next level where Team Zona is widely recognized as the premier program in the State of Arizona.