Trainers
Brent Cowles and Trey Holmes are the two primary trainers at Wilkes Hoop Group and they have dedicated most of their lives to playing and learning the game of basketball. Josh Hickman and Francis Ashford are also on the training staff at WHG and focus on fundamentals and defense. They have trained over 300 players since opening in 2013. Click the link below and check out our prices and plans to see what we have to offer.
Coaches
Coach/Trainer: Brent Cowles
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High School career:
Brent had a very impressive career while playing in Wilkes County with a combined middle school and high school record of 97-6, including 4 perfect seasons averaging 23 and 25 points per game his two seasons on varsity. He then transferred to Charlotte Christian to finish his high school career. His numbers increased to 26 PPG his junior year and 28 his senior year. Brent was selected Player of the Year, 2 time All State, and 4 time All Conference. He also was rated the #1 shooting guard in the state and ranked as one of the top 100 players in the country for the class of 2003. Brent has played against or on teams with players such as Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Carmelo Anthony and Al Jefferson and many more.
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College and Professional career:
Brent played his college basketball at Barber Scotia College before following his coach to Livingstone College in Salisbury, NC. He finished top 2 in scoring his junior and senior year and was named to the All-freshman team and All-Conference team. After Livingstone Brent continued his basketball career professionally overseas as well as semi-professionally here in the states after being drafted in the first round of the WBA(World Basketball Association)
in 2005. He was also drafted the 10th pick in the UBA(Universal Basketball Association) in
2011. He toured with the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters and also was invited and attended the NBA D-League draft camp and was called for private tryouts with the Charlotte Hornets and Indiana Pacers D-League teams. He played professionally in 13 different countries including England, Finland, Ireland, Bosnia, Canada, China and the Philippines to name a few.
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Coaching:
Brent has been coaching and training basketball since 2013. He has coached both boys and girls teams in the WHG organization from age 10 to 19. Throughout his coaching career his teams have won numerous AAU and travel basketball tournaments which has given the players the opportunity to play in front of big time colleges such as N.C. State, UNC and Virginia. This will be his 6th season coaching both boys and girls. His 10th grade girls team is a national team and look to build off of a strong season and team from last spring.
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Coach/Trainer: Joshua Hickman
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Playing Career
Josh Hickman is one of our youngest and brightest coaches at WHG and is currently a student at Appalachian State. He has played basketball for most of his life so he is very familiar with the game. He started playing AAU basketball at 8 years old and continued until he was 18. Coach Hickman played for 2 different AAU programms in his career. The Yadkin Valley Cyclones were his first AAU program that he played for before until Wilkes Hoop Group became an option. Hickman went to high school at Wilkes Central where he played all four years.
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Coaching/Training
Since graduating high school Hickman has been coaching and helping train kids at WHG along side Brent Cowles and Trey Holmes over the past 3 years. He has coached several teams while at WHG. He was first brought on board to coach our 4th grade boys team before taking over our 6th grade boys and then ultimately our 8th grade girls program last season. Our 8th grade girls program was one of our national teams and traveled in and out of the state to compete in NCAA live events which allowed our players to be watched in front of college coaches and scouts. Hickman excelled with coaching these girls and now will solely coach our 9th grade girls national team. The WHG family is proud to have him on board
Bios coming soon for Coach Trey Holmes, Josh Hickman, Martin Hague, Sylvia Moxley, Stephen Cowles, Marcus Hurtado, Zack Carlton, Daniel Richardson, Dayshia Cowles, and Francis Ashford, and Braden Heath.