Jeffery Smith, executive director of the Wisconsin Playground Elite, has a simple and direct philosophy regarding the development of his players.
“Our motto is to (find) the best players that we can and give them the opportunity to play at the highest level,” Smith said. “We feel USJN has given us great opportunities to play at a high level against other competition. And we also give the kids an opportunity to further their basketball-playing careers if they have the skill level, and obviously focus on being a student athlete. It’s also a motivating tool for girls that do want to have the desire to play beyond high school; they know the platform that we’ve developed over the years has provided success for a few other players.”
How well does that approach work? Consider this: Of the 10 players on the Playground Elite’s U17 team, eight have Division I scholarship offers. “And the other two probably will have them (soon),” Smith said.
Whatever Smith and his staff are doing, they’re doing it well. The results speak for themselves.
The club began in 1998 and Smith joined two years later. He became director in 2001, at which time the Playground Elite’s girls’ program consisted of exactly one team.
“Now we have 10,” Smith said.
“A lot of it has been word-of-mouth referrals, high school coaches helping, things of that nature,” he added. “We’ve cornered the market in southeast Wisconsin as far as talent, but we have girls that come from all over the state to play with us as well. The majority of our roster is from Milwaukee, Racine and Kenosha, but we do have kids that come from Oshkosh and La Crosse and areas like that.”
Smith said the Playground Elite filled a void in the Milwaukee area, then expanded their horizons.
“There wasn’t a big market for girls basketball, as far as taking kids and traveling with them and playing bigger events. For instance, two years ago, when we knew we had a very good eighth grade team, that was our first time going to AAU nationals,” Smith explained. “We kept saying this team is too good not to see where they land. And they won it all. It’s one of those situations where you know you’re kind of good, but you don’t know how good, and you see, ‘Oh, we’re better than everybody else.’ It’s a matter of taking a leap of faith sometimes. ‘Let’s see how far they can go against others.'”
Finding the best competition is where USJN comes in. Smith’s club has made regular stops on the USJN circuit for the last four years.
“We used to be independent, and did some tournaments here and there, but one thing that always seemed to resonate with us is that every time we went to USJN, there was always 75-100 coaches at the venues, especially the older teams,” Smith said. “Most of our kids are staying in the Midwest (for college), and it was good for us that most of the coaches were from that Midwest (area). They draw coaches from all over, but the majority of their base seems to be Midwestern. So it was a good fit for our kids and an opportunity for them to be seen by a lot of coaches.”
Last fall, the Playground Elite won the title at the prestigious Battle of the Programs in the Chicago area.
“At the Battle of the Programs, you’re playing some of the top teams in the country at their events. You can’t ask for more than that. It’s not always about wins and losses. For me, it’s about kids being seen and evaluated,” Smith said.
A look at some of the Playground Elite’s top prospects, with Smith’s assessment:
Arike Ogunbowale (5-foot-10 G/F, Milwaukee, Class of 2015): “It starts with her. There are other quality kids in our program. But she has 11 Division I offers already. She’s a talent that stands out no matter who’s watching. She’s going to do things where you say, ‘Wow, this kid can really fill it up, and pass, and rebound.’ She was the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year this year, which has never been done as a sophomore.”
Allazia Blockton (6-0 F, Milwaukee, Class of 2015): “She has six Division I offers. She has great versatility in the open court, can really score it in bunches: off the rebound, tip-ins, fast breaks, shooting the three, pull-up jump shots. Kind of does it all. She can get anywhere on the floor she chooses to get to, and is a really hard (player to) guard for most 6-foot types because of her speed and her very high vertical.”
Amani Wilborn (5-9 G, Milwaukee, Class of 2015): “She just came off a state championship as a sophomore, averaged 16 points and eight boards and five assists. She’s got two Division I offers. She’s going to raise more eyebrows this summer than anybody because she’s like a wizard with the basketball. She can score, she can defend. I’ve talked to quite a few coaches about her and they said she can get to the basket against anybody at the college level right now. She’s got a really good handle and basketball IQ. She’s so smooth and it looks effortless, like she’s playing in second or third gear instead of first gear. The game comes to her so fluently that it doesn’t look like she’s working hard, but she is.”
