High School basketball is very big in Indiana and one of the best pair of brothers to ever play Indiana high school basketball are the Teague brothers: Jeff and Marquis Teague. The Pike High School grads both had good high school careers. Jeff, the oldest, would go on to attend the University of Wake Forest in North Carolina were he thrived for two seasons 2007-2009. Later that year he declared for the draft and was selected 19th overall by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2009 NBA draft.
Marquis would attend the University of Kentucky where he helped lead his team to the NCAA Championship as a freshman. Later that year he declared for the draft where he was selected by the Chicago Bulls with the 29th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft.
Jeff and Marquis have had been successful in basketball, but are giving back to their community along with their father, Shawn Teague, by forming Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams under the name “Team Teague.”
The team has been getting a lot of buzz recently.
Bill Collins who is head coach of the 7th grade and head assistant of the 5th grade team has led both of his teams to seven tournament championships with a couple of impressive runner up finishes in some big-time tournaments.
The Recorder sat down with coach Collins to get the scoop on why the teams are excelling so quickly and why the Teague family puts so much effort into the youth.
Recorder: What makes Team Teague so good? Do you recruit good players or turn them into good players?
Coach Bill Collins: A combination of recruiting and player development. Our 5th grade team has been together since 2nd grade, so we have been developing them for 3 years now. The 7th grade is in their second summer together. In order to create more playing opportunities for some kids last summer, we created a second team.
Explain your player development strategy?
Shawn Teague, who is the father of Jeff and Marquis and also a former Anderson stand out and Indiana All-Star, does skill development four days a week to ensure that the kids are getting shots up and working on ball handling.
Do you believe the team’s success is due to the Teague name recognition or because your team is just that good?
Using Jeff and Marquis’ names definitely can help in the recruiting process, but the exposure happens because our program coordinator, Kim Felder. She does an awesome job finding events that will put our kids on the biggest stage possible.
Where do you find your players?
We recruit kids to our program from Indiana (Anderson, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis), Kentucky and Michigan. The kids in the other states heard good things about our program and contacted us about trying out for a spot. As long as the kid is from a state that touches Indiana, they are eligible to play for us.
Does Team Teague strictly focus on basketball or are there other team building activities?
When we are on the road we try to plan team trips. For example, last summer during nationals we took the boys to Busch Gardens in Virginia Beach. A couple of years ago we took the boys to Universal Studios in Orlando. At the end of each summer, we have a big celebration for all teams so they can come together and celebrate everything we have accomplished during the summer.
What goals do you have for Team Teague?
Our goals are to teach our kids the importance of getting good grades to get into college, and to get all of our players free college educations. “We are on a mission for free tuition.” Winning nationals isn’t our goal, getting better is our ultimate goal. Winning tournaments along the way is an added bonus.
Also, we started off with just one team last summer and it has expanded into five teams this summer. We’re looking to add at least one more 3rd grade team next summer.
