St. Andrews alumnus earns teaching alternative with NBA crew

PORTLAND Ore. — Gilbert Abraham hasn’t been to his residence in Laurinburg for practically eight months. It’s not as a result of he hasn’t needed to, although.

Abraham, a St. Andrews College class of 2004 alumnus, had been serving as an assistant coach since November 2022 for the Austin Spurs, the NBA G League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs. He just lately made the bounce from the minor league degree to the NBA, after being employed as the brand new participant growth coach for the Portland Path Blazers in June.

“I’m grateful,” Abraham mentioned. “For the those that know me and have been on this journey with me, it’s a particular factor. I didn’t play within the NBA, didn’t have in all probability essentially the most illustrious enjoying profession; I’ve gotten the whole lot, as the children would say, out of the mud. It was a really humbling expertise and truthfully, for me, it’s the best testomony to all of the those that have allowed me to work with them, and permit me to assist them. It simply means a lot from that perspective.”

Whereas Abraham’s solely been across the NBA for a number of months, he’s labored with NBA gamers lengthy earlier than that. A type of gamers consists of former North Carolina and NBA level guard Raymond Felton.

Felton helped get the phrase out to gamers at North Carolina about Abraham, which helped kick-start his profession as a coach.

“The whole lot type of unfold at UNC,” Abraham mentioned. “I ended up coaching a number of of these gamers. Most notably, that (2017) championship season that that they had with Justin Jackson, Isaiah Hicks, and Nate Britt, I used to be their abilities growth coach; I used to be working with them on the facet all through the season. And, then, additionally I used to be working with them all through their pre-draft course of.”

How Abraham turned invested in what he does goes again to his roots in Scotland County, nevertheless.

He performed basketball all through his 4 years at St. Andrews, and after he graduated, attended the College of North Carolina at Pembroke to get his grasp’s diploma in Public Administration. Whereas he was there, Abraham labored as a reporter for the Laurinburg Alternate earlier than changing into a instructor at Scotland Excessive Faculty. By means of educating, he found how a lot basketball meant to his neighborhood, however how laborious it was for youths to search out courts to play on.

It led to him creating an Novice Athletic Union (AAU) basketball program known as Scotland Warriors Attaining Triumph (SWAT).

“A variety of these children ended up happening and enjoying in faculty, they bought scholarships to play, or it simply gave them an outlet,” Abraham mentioned. “The primary 12 months, we had been unhealthy. The next 12 months, I ended up studying, like okay, these children want coaching, they want talent growth. So, on the time, there have been a number of native church buildings who helped and gave me their church vans and issues like that.

“I simply began choosing up the children at like 5 o’clock within the morning and bringing them to the Laurel Hill fitness center or to Scotland Excessive Faculty on the time and we’d simply do exercises. And I didn’t understand it was an trade. On the time, I used to be simply making an attempt to get my gamers higher. The next 12 months, we had been so good that we had received our area. We simply didn’t manage to pay for to do nationals and issues like that. I used to be actually happy with the stuff I did with that group.”

The influence Abraham left on his gamers remains to be felt as we speak. Xavier Bines, certainly one of Abraham’s former AAU gamers, mentioned the chance for Abraham to educate within the NBA is one thing he “deserves.”

“I’m extraordinarily excited for him,” Bines mentioned. “I used to be there at first of his journey so it’s actually particular to see him getting what he deserves. He made quite a lot of sacrifices for us again then so to see him doing what he loves on the highest degree is basically unbelievable.”

Abraham ended up teaching at Scotland Excessive for a short while, and after graduating from UNCP in 2009, turned an assistant basketball coach for Fayetteville State College till 2011. He returned to Scotland County and went again into educating, solely this time at Carver Center Faculty. Abraham by no means stopped coaching gamers, nevertheless; only a month after beginning at Carver Center, Abraham started coaching Felton.

What Abraham additionally achieved in 2011 was beginning up his personal talent growth firm referred to as ‘Akin Athletics.’

“I ended up partnering so much with Raymond Felton’s AAU crew, with David West’s crew in Raleigh, and for about six or seven years, I used to be driving mainly in a circle between Purple Springs, Raleigh, and Greensboro,” Abraham mentioned. “I’d have a gaggle I’d practice in Purple Springs and all of these children I used to be coaching in Purple Springs might’ve ended up within the Massive East or the AAC (American Athletic Convention).”

A few of the gamers that Abraham skilled all through the three cities embody former Duke and Michigan ahead Joey Baker, former North Carolina State and Butler ahead Manny Bates, former Windfall and N.C. State ahead Greg Gantt, present Pittsburgh guard Ok.J. Marshall, and former Virginia Army Institute, UNCP, and Milwaukee guard Jordan Ratliffe.

On prime of working his personal firm, Abraham was the Nationwide Director of Ability Improvement and Regional Director for Massive Pictures, an publicity basketball occasion firm, and the director of Level Guard School (PGC) Basketball, a talent growth firm for level guards.

It was at one of many PGC Basketball camps in 2016 the place a father and son from the Czech Republic that visited the U.S. to coach with Abraham would change his life.

“They invited me to the Czech Republic as a guide,” Abraham mentioned. “Whereas they had been visiting, they mainly fell in love with what I used to be doing. So, I went over there for about three months. And, then, what occurred was we (the Jindrichuv Hradec Lions) ended up profitable our championships there with the addition of me as a guide, after which we received the primary division males’s league there.”

Due to the success that Abraham had with the membership, the Lions determined to make him a proposal to turn out to be their Ability Improvement Director and Vice President of Operations in 2019, which Abraham accepted. Then, in 2021, the membership determined to call Abraham their new head coach. Abraham coached the crew for a 12 months earlier than leaving for his former job with the Spurs.

Abraham additionally accepted a place with Tandem Sports activities and Leisure in 2021 as their Director of Efficiency.

“That is the agent, Jim Tanner, who represents Tim Duncan, Grant Hill, Ray Allen, Ja Morant, Jeremy Sochan, and most just lately, Sidy Cissoko, James Nnaji; these are guys who bought drafted this 12 months,” Abraham mentioned on Tandem Sports activities and Leisure. “With my work with that group, I used to be capable of put together and work with a plethora of NBA gamers, future NBA gamers, and European, abroad gamers, as properly.”

Abraham mentioned he labored with “properly over 30 gamers” all through his time with Tandem Sports activities and Leisure and even labored with the corporate all through final season with the Spurs, earlier than resigning from his place there in June.

Now that he’s teaching talent growth on the highest degree in basketball, it appears as if there’s little left for Abraham to perform in his profession.

It’s the alternative to him, nevertheless.

“I don’t need to be simply good; I need to be nice,” Abraham mentioned. “First, I must learn the way they (Portland) need to do issues, and secondly, I simply need to add worth. I need to be certain I honor these people which have helped put me on this place.”