EMPOWERING OUR YOUTH WITH LIFE SKILLS THROUGH BASKETBALL
PROMOTING EDUCATION, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, MENTORING -JOURNALISM
WE MET WITH OUR MAYOR
IN BROOKLYN - SUMMER 2022
@ SMALL BUSINESS WEEK.
HERE’S
ERIC ADAMS
AND
COACH BEST,
C.E.O of J.O.G
NY1 CHERYL WILLS / COACH BEST & HIS yOUTH INITIATIVES
- NEW YORK 1‘s TOP JOURNALIST “CHERYL WILLS“ INVITED C.E.O “COACH BEST“ THIS PAST SUMMER 2022 TO TALK ABOUT HIS WORLD 🌎 PEACE ☮️ CAMPAIGN, FOCUS PHRASE & YOUTH INIATIAVE CALLED JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS
JR. JOURNALIST BLAKE BEST & NBA STAR KYRIE IRVING @ G.M.A
SCROLL DOWN TO DONATE
VARSITY STUDENT ATHLETE,
JR. JOURNALIST,
BLAKE BEST - A GRAD
from THE CLASS of 2022
WAS @ GOOD MORNING AMERICA
IN THE TIMES SQUARE STUDIO
WITH OUR
N.B.A SUPER STAR,
“FUTURE HALL OF FAMER”
KYRIE IRVING
OF
THE DALLAS MAVERICKS
SEBASTIAN JOSEPH DAY 🏆 NFL CHAMPION & OUR JR. JOURNALIST
- WE WERE ABLE TO CHOP IT UP THEN INTERVIEW STROUDSBURG ALUMNI AND L.A. RAMS CHAMPION, SIR BASH AKA SEBASTIAN JOSEPH-DAY
HISTORY IS HERE “HOLCOMBE RUCKER PARK” our MADISON SQUARE
BUILD YOUR RESUME, WHERE THE LEGENDS PLAY - SM TO 4X
(US$20.00 shipping)
BUILD YOUR RESUME, WHERE THE LEGENDS PLAY . . is our SIGNATURE “ASCAP“ Published SONG 🎶🎤 🎼 IT’S ALSO THE SLOGAN & LOGO FOR OUR “2021“ SPORTS APPAREL collection. Ranging from T- SHIRTS, Sweat shirts to HOODIES - Long or Short sleeves etc. ITEMS ARE IN BLACK & WHITE COLORS ONLY . . . we been using it for our J.O.G BASKETBALL 🏀 EVENTS since August 15, 2021.
SUMMER 2022 JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS 14U
COACH BEST COACH RICK and
THE 14U J.O.GEES
SUMMER 2022 JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS 12U
COACH BEST GETS ANOTHER VICTORY @ RUCKER PARK
SUMMER STAFF 2021 / 6 COMMENDABLE AND DEPENDABLE
WE WERE SO PROUD OF OUR TEEN ALUMNI & YOUNG ADULTS THIS PAST SUMMER 2021 FOR THEIR HARDWORK & PUNCTUALITY.
OUR J.O.G STAFF / PEER LEADERS / from left to right. NATE - HONDO - JOSE Then there’s DONELL - JORDAN - JOSHUA
JOSE MENDES / catch his full video on YouTube, Instagram and Twitter
OUR
JR. JOURNALIST & STUDENT ATHLETE /
TALKS ABOUT THE ABSENCE OF KYRIE IRVING
SUMMER 2020, HARLEM SAW THE FIRST EVER 3 POINT CONTEST
THIS WAS THE 1ST EVER CLINIC THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC FOLLOWED BY THE 3 POINT COMPETITION PRACTICING SAFE AND SOCIAL DISTANCING. WE 1ST KICKED OFF IN ST. NICHOLAS PROJECTS FOLLOWED BY OUR 2ND EVENT ON 145TH STREET LENOX AVE AND SAVED THE BEST FOR LAST @ HOLCOMBE RUCKER PARK IN THE SUMMER OF 2020.
About OUR CEO & FOUNDER
COACH BEST
SO THERE’S AN OLD SAYING :
THERE’S NOTHING
NEW UNDER THE SUN.
SEEMINGLY COACH BEST
WAS INSPIRED BY
NOT ONE BUT TWO
ENTREPRENEURS
THAT CAME BEFORE HIM
IN THE SAME
NEIGHBORHOOD
OF
ST. NICHOLAS PARK SOUTH
BEFORE
HE WAS BORN.
THE FIRST GENTLEMAN
WHO
COACH BEST
HAD ADMIRED NOW
HAS A STREET CORNER
NAMED IN HIS HONOR,
WHO HAD
“35 PLUS“ YEARS
OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT
UNDER HIS BELT.
THE OTHER GENTLEMAN
HAS HIS NAME
ENSHRINED
ON A PARK & PLAYGROUND
IN HARLEM,
ON THE UPPER WEST SIDE
OF MANHATTAN
FOR IMPACTING THE
SPORTS WORLD,
PARTICULARLY BASKETBALL
WITH HIS LARGER THAN
LIFE LEGACY.
AT 1ST COACH BEST WAS
JUST INSPIRED BY
MR. WILLIAM A. BRYD
WHO HE’D MET IN 1983
BUT ACTUALLY
BEFORE HIM THERE WAS
A PARKS DEPARTMENT,
RECREATION DIRECTOR
AT ST. NICHOLAS
PARK SOUTH
BY THE NAME OF
HOLCOMBE L. RUCKER,
WHOM HE‘D ONLY HEARD
STORIES
ABOUT,
WHO WAS
THE CREATOR OF
SUMMER LEAQUE
BASKETBALL
IN 1950,
THE 1ST EVER
OUTDOOR
TOURNAMENT IN
THE UNITED STATES.
THE 2016 - ST. KNICKS FROM ST. NICHOLAS HOUSES. OUR 1ST FINALS APPEARANCE @ Each 1 Teach 1 / RUCKER PARK Championship 🥈 - 2ND PLACE
MR. WILLIAM A. BYRD
R.I.P
TO MY INSPIRATION
MR. WILLIAM A. BYRD
“1927 TO 2000”
MR. BRYD WAS
AND STILL IS AN INSPIRATION.
TO US.
HE STARTED AN ORGANIZATION
CALLED THE U.B.A IN 1966
“UNITED BLOCK ASSOCIATION“
IN THE ST. NICHOLAS
HOUSING PROJECTS
AND PROVIDED US
WITH YOUTH ACTIVITIES,
YOUTH EMPLOYMENT
TO OCUPPY OUR IDLE TIME.
MR. BYRD
WAS NICK NAMED
“FIGURE HEAD“
BECAUSE HE WAS ALWAYS
THINKING OF A MASTER PLAN
TO UPLIFT
THE NEIGHBORHOOD.
WHICH LEAD TO THE
OPENING
OF A YOUTH CENTER
IN THE EARLY 70’s
NOW
THERE’S A STREET CORNER
NAMED AFTER HIM
CALLED
“WILLIAM A. BRYD PLACE”
THE BLOCK THAT ROCKS
ON
131st STREET 7th AVE.
MR. HOLCOMBE L. RUCKER
R.I.P
TO MY FRIENDLY GHOST
HOLCOMBE L. RUCKER
“1926 TO 1965”
MR. BYRD HAD TO HAVE SEEN
MR. RUCKER AND BEEN
INSPIRED BY HIM
WHEN HE CREATED
THE RUCKER TOURNAMENT
IN THE
ST. NICHOLAS PROJECTS
IN 1950 . .
WHICH WAS SAME YEAR THAT
ST. NICK PROJECTS OPENED
HIS DOORS FOR RESIDENCY.
THIS CREATION OF HIS WAS
THE 1ST EVER
SUMMER BASKETBALL LEAGUE
IN THE UNITED STATES,
WHERE YOUNG MEN WHO PLAYED
THERE ON THE BLACKTOP
WAS SEEN BY COLLEGE SCOUTS
AND WAS GIVING SCHOLARSHIPS
NOTABLY TO
SEVERAL
HISTORICAL BLACK
COLLEGE UNIVERSITIES
IN THE SOUTH.
THIS CREATION OF HIS ,
SUMMER LEAGUE
‘BASKETBALL
IS
NOW MIMICKED
WORLDWIDE.
🏀 🌎
HOLCOMBE RUCKER
HAD MOVED HIS TOURNAMENT
FROM ST.NICHOLAS
PROJECTS IN 1962
AND RELOCATED
UPTOWN TO
280 WEST 155TH STRRET
FREDERICK DOUGLAS BLVD
AND THAT
LOCATION WAS FORMERLY
KNOWN AS PLAYGROUND 156
THEN IT WAS RENAMED
HOLCOMBE RUCKER PARK
IN 1974.
THE INSPIRATION & GHOST OF HOLCOMBE RUCKER’S PAST
C.E.O SHAUN BEST
BEFORE J.O.G BECAME A TAX EXEMPT,
501C3 NON PROFIT ORGANIZATION,
MR. SHAUN BEST aka COACH BEST HAS SPENT OVER 20 YRS
WORKING IN THE FIELD
OF SOCIAL SERVICE, MENTORING & DEVELOPING THE MINDS
OF KIDS, TEENS and YOUNG ADULTS BY USING
CONFLICT RESOLUTION AS A COPING
MECHANISM WHEN FACE WITH STRESS, HARDSHIP OR ADVERSITY.
SO
in the summer of 2013
COACH BEST
LAUNCHED HIS J.O.G CAMPAIGN or JOVERG
which is another name for
JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS
in the mornings
after working On the Overnight Shift.
He started out Bi Weekly to Weekends to Everyday offering
A FREE Skills & Drills Basketball Clinic
to kids from age 9 to 12 years old
in the ST. NICHOLAS HOUSING PROJECTS On 128th street 7th ave
UNKNOWINGLY that this HARLEM N.Y.C.H.A Development
HAD A HERITAGE OF IT’S OWN BEFORE HE WAS BORN.
He
had no idea he would be following in the footsteps of
THE ICONIC & LEGENDARY . .
MR. “HOLCOMBE L. RUCKER”
who created
“THE RUCKER TOURNAMENT“
which was the 1st ever Summer Basketball Leaque
in 1950
keeping youngsters away from crime, gangs & drugs.
He would stress that Basketball can be a vehicle to obtain an
Education Perhaps A College Scholarship.
YEARS LATER
Mr. Rucker had moved uptown to 155th street in 1962
then a gentleman by the name of
Mr. “WILLIAM A. BYRD“
PULLED UP
into ST. NICHOLAS PROJECTS in 1966
He founded an organization
called the U.B.A. / United Block Association
He Opened Up A Youth Center / The BYRD Center
which provided Free Meals All Day, Summer Youth Employment,
Football, Baseball and the “BYRD’CLASSICS” A Basketball Tournament
IRONICALLY it was Mr. BYRD
who provided an opportunity for a teenager in 1986 to
MC on the microphone
and be the announcer for his basketball tournament
in ST. NICK PROJECTS
earning that teen his 1st ever PAYCHECK and that teen
is now known as “COACH BEST”
SO
Mr. BEST
is always making reference & sharing stories of the past with
Kids, Teens & Young Adults, Foreign or Domestic
when traveling from N.Y. TO L.A. or EUROPE & back
So Everyone Can Learn About
HARLEM’S SPORTS HISTORY
OUR HARLEM HERITAGE, OUR CULTURAL IMPACT ON THE GAME OF BASKETBALL
AND TO BE INSPIRED
by the efforts of COMMUNITY SERVICE & ENTREPRENEURSHIP
as he was inspired by those before him .
So it’s safe to say that
“JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS” is cut from the same cloth as
Mr. RUCKER & Mr. BYRD and was founded on HALLOWED GROUND.
NOW
JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS.
. IS LOOKING FORWARD TO
HAVING A SAFE SPACE OF THEY’RE OWN ONE DAY,
A BUILDING CALLED
“THE J.O.G LEARNING CENTER“
🙏🏀🙏
‘’REST IN PEACE
TO OUR
J.O.G TEENS
WALTER DAVIS R.I.P
JEREMIAH DRAPER R.I.P
AND
JOEY MINYETY R.I.P
GONE WAY TO SOON
🙏🙏🙏
OUR 2018 - 19 MILBANK 🏆 “WINNERS“
THIS WAS OUR 1ST TIME INVITED TO THE NEW YORK VS. PHILADELPHIA RIVALRY . .
THE 70th ANNUAL TRADITIONAL SERIES STARTED BY
“HOLCOMBE RUCKER” FROM HARLEM AND “SONNY HILL ” FROM PHILLY.
J.O.G WINS ( 34 TO 31 )
YOUNG CEO - ATTENDING BLOOMSBURG COLLEGE FALL 2022
BLAKE BEST,
VARSITY STUDENT ATHLETE,
JR. JOURNALIST, TEEN ENTREPRENEUR
FROM THE GRADUATION CLASS OF 2022
ALSO
A YOUNG CEO IN TRAINING.
Blake has revamped
the J.O.G SPORTS APPAREL
and it’s dripping now
more than ever before.
Our sports apparel is used
for
FUNDRAISING & PROMOTION.
BLAKE is a SENIOR
@ STROUDSBURG AREA HIGH SCHOOL
Varsity Basketball all 4 years.
also collaborating with
EVA BLAISDELL of LADY ROCKET SPACE
in LOS ANGELES.
BLAKE BEST
was apart of THE 1ST EVER
2021 GRADUATING CLASS
OF THE
MAYOR’ S ACTION PLAN
( M.A.P ) YOUTH LEADERSHIP COUNCIL.
BUT
WE’RE NOT DONE . .
HE WILL ALSO BE THE NARRATOR
OF THE
WEB DOCU - SERIES
titled
“SURVIVING RUCKER PARK”
along with J.O.G members
VINCENT HENDRICKS
AND
RICHARD CASTELLO.
This Docu Series is about
“HARLEM’S BASKETBALL HERITAGE“
and it‘s main CONTRIBUTORS . . .
JOHN HANSBOROUGH
HOLCOMBE RUCKER, OLLIE EDINBORO,
DONALD ADAMS & PELHAM FRITZ.
THESE 5 GUYS MADE SUCH AN IMPACT
ON THE CULTURE OF N.Y.C BASKETBALL 🏀
AND ALSO THERE’S
BOB & FRED
OF
Each one Teach one
and the life & legacy of
Late Great “GREG MARIUS“ of the E.B.C
and co - partner
GUSTO WELLS
of the newly founded “Entertainers 155”
and how all of thee above inspired
JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS.
OUR 2020 RUCKER PARK KIDS
DURING THE PANDEMIC
J.O.G WAS STILL ABLE TO FIND A WAY
TO PUT A SKILLS & DRILLS CAMP
TOGETHER
FOR OUR
“RUCKER PARK KIDS“
WHO TRULY HAVE A WONDERFUL
FRIENDSHIP AMONG EACH OTHER 🏀
OUR 2020 - 21 RUCKER PARK TEENS
WE ARE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TELL YOU THAT ALTHOUGH WE LOST THE GAME DURING THE 2021 NEW YORK VS. PHILLY . . THE SERIES IS TIED 1 - 1
BUT THE M.V.P WAS FROM OUR TEAM . . ON THE FAR RIGHT IN THIS PICTURE . . HIS NAME IS DONELL CAPERS 17PTS 8 REBS 4 ASST . . IN THE MIDDLE IS TYQUAN CUFFY . . TO THE LEFT IS JONATHAN WATTS. THESE ARE OUR RUCKER PARK TEENS WHO WERE APART OF THE 8TH AVE COLLABORATION.
THE 2017 SEASON @ RUCKER PARK
from left . .
TYLER PERRY - KARL UPSTART - GEORGE
ST.PARICK - BLAKE BEST - MARMODU ZULU - MALIKAI PEAKER
JUMPSHOTS OVER GUNSHOTS
WENT TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP AGAIN
BUT CAME UP SHORT IN THE 13U DIVISION.
WE MANAGED TO HAVE A 5 - 0 SEASON
AND LOST
IN THE FINALS @ RUCKER PARK
( 2ND PLACE )
🥈