MEET OUR COACHES
For as long as I can remember basketball has been my biggest passion in life. I played high school basketball at St. Thomas Aquinas where I received back to back high school All Ontario honours. I graduated in 1998 and went on to George Washington University where I received a full basketball scholarship. My first year at GW we were fortunate enough to play in the NCAA March Madness tournament. I went on to continue my collegiate career at Drake university, receiving All Conference honours in the Missouri Valley Conference. Following my collegiate career, I was fortunate enough to pursue a professional career overseas in Europe. I spent 9 years playing professionally in countries such as Greece, Hungary, Germany, France, Poland and Bosnia. I was forced into early retirement in 2011 due to my ongoing polycystic kidney disease.
As my playing career came an abrupt end, I was able to reinvigorate my passion in basketball by helping others. Over the past 10 years I have been blessed to train some of the most talented players to ever come out of Canada. I’ve had the opportunity to share my knowledge of the game and train many high level players from NBA athletes, professionals overseas, elite high school players, and young athletes all across the GTA. With over 30 years of experience as a player, trainer and coach, I have always approached each situation with detail, dedication, and discipline. It is our mission here at YASO for our athletes to improve in every skill set basketball has to offer, and understand the team concepts that are involved. There are many concepts in basketball that translate into real life, and here at YASO we want all our athletes to excel at both life and basketball.
As my playing career came an abrupt end, I was able to reinvigorate my passion in basketball by helping others. Over the past 10 years I have been blessed to train some of the most talented players to ever come out of Canada. I’ve had the opportunity to share my knowledge of the game and train many high level players from NBA athletes, professionals overseas, elite high school players, and young athletes all across the GTA. With over 30 years of experience as a player, trainer and coach, I have always approached each situation with detail, dedication, and discipline. It is our mission here at YASO for our athletes to improve in every skill set basketball has to offer, and understand the team concepts that are involved. There are many concepts in basketball that translate into real life, and here at YASO we want all our athletes to excel at both life and basketball.
Grew up playing basketball in Oakville and attended St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School. From 2009-2011, won 3 consecutive Halton titles, including 3 straight trips to OFSAA. Went on to attend Findlay prep in Las Vegas, followed by 22 feet Academy located in Kentucky. I received a basketball scholarship to the University of Tulsa in 2013. Unfortunately my playing career was cut short due to multiple knee injuries (surgeries). In the past 10 years I’ve had the pleasure to coach at the high school level, to go along with training young athletes in the GTA. Basketball has always been my number one passion, and there is no greater joy than to help other athletes improve their game on a daily basis. At YASO we are committed to excellence and thrive for all our young athletes to succeed.
I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Oakville, where I attended St. Ignatius of Loyola Secondary School. I was captain of the junior and senior basketball team. I won the Athletic Letter award as well as Athlete of the Year! I played rep basketball for Burlington Thunder for 4 years .
Sports has been the focal point of my life since I was a kid. I became obsessed with basketball ever since grade 4 where I made the grade 8 basketball team. While being around basketball all my life, I have learned that with dedication comes hard work and with hard work comes reward. I was able to help coach at Robert Bateman high school where i knew immediately I had a love for coaching. I want to help our kids understand the fundamentals of basketball and instill a great work ethic at a young age. As a coach at YASO academy I hope to have a positive impact on your child’s life in the basketball community.
Yaso Bio Growing up in Toronto I was introduced to basketball at a young age and fell in love with the game. I attended Martingrove Collegiate for four years and during that time we made two AAA OFSAA appearances one of which resulted in a bronze medal. During high-school I played for team Ontario resulting in two national championships. Played a post graduate high-school year at Cushing academy in Massachusetts and won a AA Nepsaac Championship. After high-school I committed to McMaster University where I would play for five years. In that time I received OUA all star honours, team MVP and finished top 5 in scoring and rebounding in program history. During my time at McMaster I had the honour of playing in the inaugural season of the CEBL for the Hamilton Honey Badgers at the professional level for one season. I want to share my experiences and help the young generation develop their basketball skills, so that they can have the great experiences that the game can provide.