According to Ty Hairston, Founder and Director of the
Probound Ohio Elite basketball program located in Blacklick (Ohio), his own
educational and athletic background led him to start his program 8 years ago
with the goals of “helping kids go to college.”
Starting with only 2 teams back in 2009, Hairston, a Kent State
graduate, returned to central Ohio and began to notice a need for another
basketball facility and another program designed to help kids play basketball
at the highest levels. With the help of
Mike Duncan, Founder and Director of the storied Ohio Basketball Club based out
of Cleveland, Probound and its now 13 teams in grade 2nd through 11th
is a participant in the ultra-competitive Gauntlet circuit.
Hairston’s program started from humbling beginnings after
he returned to Columbus from Cleveland. Early on, he spent
time working out of The Hoop, a local basketball landmark for many years,
before he decided to open his own facility.
“I kept riding by this empty warehouse and then one day I decided to do
my own thing,” Hairston said. Now,
Hairston has a vibrant facility that’s used for training, team practices and for hosting
tournaments, camps and other youth events. After Hairston partnered with Dave Spiller,
a former Ohio State coach and local workout guru, Probound’s high school
program really took off. In fact, in terms
of competitiveness, Hairston’s 9th grade team nearly won the Dallas
session of the Gauntlet series last season, and his middle school teams have
proven to be very competitive over the past couple of years.
According to Dave Spiller, he joined Probound 3 years ago
because “…he [Hairston] and I shared a common goal. Ty’s a quality guy and we both wanted to
make an impact on kid’s lives,” said Spiller. Spiller went on to draw a
distinction between Proboud and other programs. “So many organizations are more
wide open; are more about win-win versus helping kids,” Spiller continued.
“Probound offers a more personal touch and the people he [Hairston] surrounds himself with
are solid,” said Spiller.
Since Probound’s emergence onto the local basketball
scene, several other basketball programs have taken notice and have tried to
emulate their success. “After we got our Adidas sponsorship other programs
started evaluating our success and now you see other program with shoe company sponsorship,” Hairston added. Hairston’s
goals are simple; he just wants to help kids get college scholarships and to go on
to have successful lives. I’ve helped
hundreds of kids get college scholarships,” added Hairston. From our vantage point, Hairston and his
Probound Oho Elite program is living up to its mission of helping kids reach
their hoop dreams!
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