The Valentine brothers always pushed each other to be the best versions of themselves. Ever since they were young, if Drew would drop 20 in a game during an AAU tournament, Denzel would take it upon himself to score 25. Competing against one another got intense from time to time, too, but at the end of the day, they just wanted to make each other proud.

“He’s always been a leader,” Denzel Valentine says of his brother, who is two years older. “People have always looked up to him because of his ability to motivate and relate. I’ve experienced a lot through the game of basketball and he’s a big reason for that.”

Growing up in Lansing, MI, the two were standouts at Sexton High School and were coached by their father, Carlton. Drew was a two-sport athlete; he averaged 15.5 points and 11.9 rebounds per game as a junior, earning all-state honors, and then did his thing on the football field as a two-year starting QB. He also served as captain of both teams. 

Meanwhile, Denzel solidified himself as the No.1 player in the state and was nationally-ranked as a shooting guard. Due to injury, the brothers played only three games together in high school, but that wouldn’t be the last time they’d be together on the same squad. Drew went on to play at Oakland for four years and led the Golden Grizzlies to two NCAA tournament appearances, finishing 4th all-time in defensive rebounds (480) and 8th in offensive rebounds (232). Meanwhile, Denzel suited up at Michigan State, where he’d eventually earn first-team All-American honors and win AP Player of the Year in 2016.

After college, Drew pursued a career in coaching and joined Tom Izzo’s coaching staff in 2013 as a graduate manager, putting him on the same team as his brother. During the summer, they’d train together, too, with Drew putting Denzel through workouts. Looking back, they both say that those sessions are some of the most cherished moments of their individual basketball journeys. 

“Those moments were special, man,” says Denzel, who is currently suiting up for the Maine Celtics, Boston’s G League affiliate. “He really knows how to get the best out of people. The best coaches are life-teachers and Drew is great at teaching the game of basketball and the game of life, and will only get better as he gets more experience with both.”

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Denzel has watched his brother’s leadership and competitiveness ascend him to the level he’s always aspired to reach one day: becoming a head coach. After serving as an assistant coach at Loyola for four years, Drew was promoted to head coach last April after Porter Moser accepted the head coaching job at Oklahoma, making him the youngest coach in college basketball at 29 years old. 

Moser had cultivated a winning culture during his time at Loyola and established the program as one of the most respected mid-majors in college basketball—who could forget their magical run to the Final Four in 2018? Now, as a first-year head coach, the 30-year-old is continuing to carry the program towards success. This season, Loyola has won 12 of their last 14 games and was on a 10-game winning streak before losing to Missouri State. This stretch still has the Ramblers on top of the standings in the Missouri Valley Conference. 

“We have the competitive mindset of playing for championships,” the 30-year-old head coach says when asked about the Ramblers’ success. “Does it feel great that I’m a first-year head coach and my team is doing so well? Absolutely, it does. Does it reassure me that what I’m doing is right? Yes. The standard is what we hold [the team] accountable to but it’s also what they choose to believe in and trust in, so the players deserve all the credit.”

With that, Valentine’s impact goes far beyond just the court, and he’s continued to make it a point to be both competitive, and supportive as a coach—during his four-year tenure as an assistant at Loyola, he often played one-on-one with his players before and after practice. Today, he’s the type of coach who will debate with them about why Gunna’s DS4Ever doesn’t compare to Drake’s Nothing Was the Same, and why the blog-era boys (Drake, J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar, Wale, Big Sean) are far superior than the new generation of rappers. He’ll even pull up a film session in a pair of A Ma Maniere Jordan 1’s on his feet, which has earned him compliments from his players. 

“Creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable is probably my biggest thing as a person,” Drew says. “I want people to feel like they can be themselves and mess up. If you’re doing your best and you miss a shot, or if you’re struggling trying to juggle five classes, the scouting report, your girlfriend, weight room stuff, and you feel overwhelmed? It’s okay…we can talk about it and you’re going to be accepted.”

It’s a skill he developed during his time as a graduate manager at Michigan State. There, he learned how to command the respect of the older coaches on staff, while remaining cordial and in tune with the student-athletes on the team. 

“I’ve always been able to toe that line of being accepted by my peers, while letting them know you can’t be on BS around me,” Drew says. “It makes it easy for me as a head coach and it also helps that my first coaching job was with my brother at Michigan State. I knew if I could hold my brother accountable—someone that I really care what they think about me, and still handle my responsibilities with the rest of the players and staff, I knew I’d be good. I think that set me up for success.”

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The Valentines grew up as Spartan fans, and Drew says he fell in love with the game after watching the Spartans win a national championship in 2000. He also lists Mateen Cleaves, Jason Richardson, Morris Peterson, and Charlie Bell as his childhood heroes. Their father, Carlton, played there in the 80s under legendary coach Jud Heathcote and then went on to play in the World Basketball League before a five-year stint playing overseas in Sweden. 

When asked why his personality is well tailored for coaching, Valentine says his upbringing has a major impact. 

“It goes back to how I was raised,” he explains. “My mom [Kathy] is a teacher, and my dad was our coach and did basketball training on the side at another gym. She was always on me and my brother’s ass, making sure we were doing everything we could from an academic standpoint and then my dad was on us, making sure we were doing everything we could so that we could be the best athletes we could be.”

There’s not a day that goes by that Drew doesn’t think back to his father’s influence and how he’s helped change people’s lives. Carlton was a youth adviser at Highfields and served as an assistant at East Lansing High prior to the head coaching gig at Sexton. 

“My dad embedded in me the importance of being different. His thing was getting me to understand I had to do things differently to actually be different from everyone else.”

He also thinks daily about his own position as one of the few young Black head coaches in the country leading successful programs, as well as other Black coaches in his circle, including George Mason’s Kim English and Jacksonville’s Jordan Mincy, and how they’re all ushering a new generation of coaches in college basketball.

“My friends, whether that’s Kim English or Jordan Mincy; we feel like we’re getting the opportunity and we got to take advantage of it,” says Valentine. “I feel extra motivation to be a positive influence for the next generation of coaches. It means a lot to me and I think about it almost everyday.”  

As the Ramblers continue to hold their own as one of the top teams in their conference, Valentine is ready to continue carrying his family’s legacy and solidifying himself amongst the legends who have come before him. 

“Whether you’re playing, whether you’re coaching, whatever you’re doing, you got to want to be one of the best,” Valentine says. “That’s what I want to be. I don’t know if that’s me being too bull-headed. I hope that’s not me sounding entitled or thinking it’s easy because I know it’s not. I just want to be one of the greats.”

Luke Akinsola is a freelance writer that covers sports, music and pop-culture. A full-time marketing and communications professional that also worked as a TV producer at Fox Sports. Prior to his current work, Akinsola covered the women’s and men’s national basketball teams during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He’s also a proud R&B Connoisseur and Tar Heel alum.

Steve Woltmann/Loyola Athletics.

The post Drew Valentine is Ready to Carry Loyola’s Legacy appeared first on SLAM.

“I saw the movie Love and Basketball, and [in it] Monica went to play overseas in Spain,” Green says with a big smile on her face. “That was one of my favorite movies growing up, and when I was in college, I knew I wanted to go overseas. I wanted to travel and experience basketball somewhere else, so the WNBA was never my main focus.”

And indeed, just like Monica in the classic film, Green also ended up having a stint as a professional hooper in Spain before ultimately accepting a coaching job at IMG Academy in 2016. Still working towards getting her confidence back after the knee injuries, Green refound her identity there while coaching girls basketball. She soon began expressing her passion for the game on social media.

“I had another knee surgery and hadn’t been cleared by the doctor yet, so I was bored with it,” Green says. “I recorded myself dribbling, and it went viral on Facebook. Everybody, for whatever reason, said I should try out for the Globetrotters, but I was like, Eh, I’m too competitive, but whatever.”

Her friends indeed saw it coming before she did—one day a Harlem Globetrotter recruiter saw the video online and tracked down Green immediately after. She managed to fight through the lingering pain from the knee injury and impressed the staff enough to earn a spot on the Globetrotters roster. After posting a few more viral videos—one of which consisted of her dribbling a ball on a treadmill, Green knew she had to go all in, documenting her journey as a Globetrotter in unique fashion.

“I knew it would be a good time to grow my brand,” Green says. “I wanted to make sure I separated ‘Hoops,’ which is my Globetrotter nickname, from Bree…from Brianna. I made sure the whole time that I would focus on my personal brand and try to grow it as that.”

And that she did. Green left the Globetrotters after realizing she could make a lot more money as a content creator instead. Fast-forward to 2021 and Green now has 357,000 followers on Instagram, 375,000 more on TikTok, and 191,000 subscribers on YouTube. She’s leveraged the impact of her social channels to partner with entities like Nike, Adidas, Gatorade, AT&T, ESPN +, and Space Jam.

“It’s amazing just ‘cause I took that risk,” Green says when asked about all of the brands she’s gotten to work with since deciding to go full-time on social media. “To have it all pan out is pretty dope, and I try to be different. I try to separate myself. I try to be innovative, coming up with new ways, and on top of that, being a female doing it. I just try to make myself unique.”

The state of North Carolina has consistently produced top-tier hoops talent for decades. From Steph Curry and CP3 to John Wall and Brandon Ingram, The Old North State has rightfully earned the reputation of being a hotbed for high-level hoops. But now, off the court, two Raleigh influencers are changing the way basketball players are engaging with social media to create business opportunities.

Marcus Hodges played at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne University and pursued the hoop dream of playing overseas in the United Kingdom, but quickly realized that dream wasn’t his to chase anymore.

“I went to the British Basketball League out in London, and the team I actually got picked up [by] ended up folding,” Hodges says in a Zoom interview from his shoe closet—a closet that boasts  just about every basketball shoe one could imagine, regardless of sneaker company. “They didn’t have enough money to become a team, and I took it as a learning experience off the court. I ended up coming back home and played some semi-pro for a little bit, and that’s when I started getting in the training field.”

The fact that many soccer players in England were making his salary in a month motivated Hodges to think of other ways he could earn a living while being around the game that he loves. It propelled him to start his Separation Team skill development and training business nine years ago.

Availability was truly his best ability when he started to work players out. Hodges currently lives in Raleigh and noted how multiple DI players at the time would reach out for workouts when they were back in town, such as Devonte Graham of the New Orleans Pelicans and Lexie Brown of the Chicago Sky.

“We were all new to [social media] at the time, but really how I got into it is, let’s say no kids show up for my workouts, meaning I now have an hour by myself,” Hodges says. “My girlfriend at the time was there, and Instagram just came out with 15-second videos. I would ask her to record me doing a crazy layup…hitting ten threes in a row or doing a crossover into a jump shot. I didn’t realize at the time that I was marketing myself.”

Hodges laughs about the early days of putting videos out on Instagram, saying he used to get excited when he’d get 11 likes. Now, his TikTok videos alone have amassed over 3 million likes and has a combined following of 312,000 users. Although being a popular trainer for young talent can pay the bills, Hodges has earned a lot of additional income from brand partnerships.

“Legends, Manscape, DratKings, Footlocker, Eastbay—they’re a lot of the companies I’ve partnered and am partnering with,” Hodges says. “Some companies just reach out, give me gear, and ask me if I’m able to put together certain types of videos. Other companies just want me to wear what I like from their brand, so it gets promoted.”

Another North Carolina influencer is catching the eyes of basketball fans on the internet as well. Milton Chavis’ journey included a stop at Word of God Christian Academy, where he played alongside four-time NBA All-Star John Wall. Like his Raleigh brethren Marcus Hodges, Chavis had a respectable collegiate career with stops at Kilgore Community College before finishing out at Morehead State University.

A short stint overseas led Chavis to pursue the route of coaching and training, which sparked his desire to explore content creation.

Chavis’ popular “Travel or Not” video series shows him going through a set of unique moves, most of which you’ll never see in an actual basketball game. The creativity and athleticism displayed in his videos are among the reasons why Chavis has gone from 18,000 to 75,000 followers on Instagram in a span of six months. Basketball stars like Gilbert Arenas, Kevin Garnett, and DeMar DeRozan have even reached out to pay homage and discuss his content.

“It’s been crazy, man,” Chavis says when describing the growth of his followers and the opportunities that have come with it. “I started in March, researching the gather step rule, just the one rule in the NBA. I was just being creative and was able to show the skill that I still have, the athleticism that I still have. My posts took on a life of their own. I’ve been on nearly every basketball platform aside from ESPN and SportsCenter.”

Chavis’ content has led him to team up with rising streetwear brands, which send him merchandise and pay for promotion. New Balance and Addikt also have formed relationships with Chavis, while aspiring artists pay to have their music played in Chavis’ videos.

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The road to social media stardom has been met with obstacles for all three of these influencers. Three ACL surgeries for Bree Green and empty gyms for Chavis and Hodges ultimately motivated them to persist, even in the middle of discouragement.

“I remember this one particular time I posted that I was having workouts at 9:00 a.m. at Word of God,” Chavis says. “That was like 2017. I get to the gym and nobody shows. I was like, Dang! I’ve already been training for like a year and a half and doing decently well. I was also working with kids with special needs and at Fitness Connection,” Chavis continues. “I knew that this was just for a season, and to see how everything has come since that point is insane to me.”

Brands will continue to seek out content creators who engage with their audiences authentically. Green, Hodges, and Chavis have all used their social media platforms to create other business opportunities for themselves and the circles around them, with a centralized goal to impact the communities around them through basketball.

“I betted on myself, and it’s working out,” Green says. “There’s a lot more I want to do, and I just want to keep striving and growing.”  

Luke Akinsola is a freelance writer that covers sports, music and pop-culture. A full-time marketing and communications professional that also worked as a TV producer at Fox Sports. Prior to his current work, Akinsola covered the women’s and men’s national basketball teams during the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. He’s also a proud R&B Connoisseur and Tar Heel alum.

Photo credit Donnie Bui, Milton Chavis and Clayton Boyd.

The post Meet the Hoopers Who are Using Social Media to Build Their Own Personal Brands appeared first on SLAM.