Player testimonials

Kur Jokuch

“Going to LBA was the best decision I ever made. From the start everyone who was a part of LBA made me feel welcomed. As time went by, I felt as I was part of a family instead of a team. Coach Provenzano never spoke about how the team was a family, he always showed us. He always made sure that we were taken care of not matter the situation. If we ever needed a ride he made sure we had one. He would always wake up very early in the morning to drive us to workouts. If there was no gym open in the morning, he found one for us. He would always go out of his way to make sure we had the best. He even opened his house to us, his house was always open to us to go and workout, do homework or to be around the other team mates. While at his house we would always make sure we were fed. He made sure we were fed at all times, on the road playing or at his house. I have never had a coach that would allow us to go to their house like he did. That shows the love he had for us. His love for us carried throughout everything he did. He would check up on players to make sure everything was going great in their lives. If anyone was struggling in any type of way, he would work with them to find a solution. He sees his players as more than just “players”. He sees us as people which makes the bond between the players and him that much stronger.

The bond between the players and Coach made LBA a special place, but what made LBA different from another other place is his entire family were fully invested into the team and our well begin. His brother, Coach Sarto took a week away from work to come to Florida with us. Coach Sarto came down to Florida with us to make sure we had more than enough people taking care of us while we where down there. His son Michael also makes great sacrifices for us. Michael takes time out of his day to train us at a very high level. Michael is not only our weight trainer he is our skill trainer as well. Michael spends countless hours training us and finding ways to help us become better players. All the time and energy Michael spends helping us, he could be investing that time helping other kids develop who would pay him. Michael sacrifices his time, energy and pay to see us become better players and people. That shows how much love he has towards the team and the people on the team. This type of love and passion is what makes LBA an amazing place. Coach Provenzano’s wife Judy Provenzano has a love and passion for this team that is unmatched. She is the heart and soul of the team, Judy does all the work no one sees. Judy books all our flights, hotels, drives us to tournaments and practice. Judy is also our biggest fan! She is there at all games supporting and cheering for us. She is an amazing person to be around and always makes sure we are happy. The people at LBA make it a place to grow and become a better person with people who genuinely care about you.

Coach Provenzano does an amazing job preparing you to be successful at the next level. A lot of the drills we do here at Northern Colorado are the same drills I did at LBA. That shows the level of training he provides. The weight program at LBA is a top-level weight program which has a lot of similarities to ours. This type of training at LBA made my transition to collage basketball a very easy and smooth one. Coach Provenzano also prepared us for the academic side of college. He would always check our grades to make sure we were on top of our school work. He checked our school work to make sure we were not just basketball players but students as well. He has been coaching for a long time and knows that basketball is nothing without school, and if school is taken care of, more doors will open in your favour. Coach Provenzano knows how important school is and he always made sure we had enough time devoted towards schools.

He did not only help build our basketball and schools skills, but he helped build our character. He will push you to your limits in all aspects of the game and life. He will push you to your limits because he wants to see you become the best version of yourself. Coach Provenzano will always hold you accountable to all your mistakes. He does not hold us accountable for everything to get on us for all our mistakes. But he does it to help build our character. He shows us that we should never run from our problems we should face them head on and find solutions. He will be by your side through it all he will never leave you stranded alone. He was a great coach and teacher. He taught me that when respect everything around you, you become a people’s person. When you respect the time of others, the work they do and yourself, you will begin to see the world with a different lens. You will start to take everything more serious. You will invest more quality time in your health, school, family and all aspects which will results in a better quality of life for you and everyone around you. Words can’t describe what Coach Provenzano, his family and LBA has done for me. My time at LBA was nothing short of amazing.”