Adrian Thomas
Founder
Adrian is well-known in the Austin basketball community for his passion for Player Development. A home-grown local talent, he was a standout player at Del Valle High School. In college, he was honored as the #1 point guard in the NJCAA in 2010 and is the All-Time Assist Leader at Kishwaukee College in Illinois. Adrian finished his college career at Missouri Western State University, where he received his Bachelor’s Degree in Sports Management.
After college, Adrian played professional basketball in Sweden, Turkey, and Spain, where he later discovered his passion for training youth basketball players. He has worked with youth basketball programs in many states and international, in Turkey, Spain, Bulgaria, Germany, and the list continues. Adrian’s high energy, ability to inspire others, and commitment to making a difference makes him a vital asset to the Austin basketball community.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
“Your talent determines what you can do. Your motivation determines how much you are willing to do. Your attitude determines how well you do it.
– Lou Holtz
Lamont King
Director of HS Basketball Operations
Coach King brings over 25 years of coaching and training experience to TWE Basketball.
He played at Louisiana Tech University where he led the team in assists and steals. Coach King has coached at Webb Middle School, Lanier High School, and is now entering his 21st season as Head Coach at St. Stephen's Episcopal School.
Throughout the years Coach King has won 5 SPC Championships, won 2 SPC Coach of the Year Awards, won over 380 games at St. Stephens Episcopal, has directed over 40 youth basketball camps, and coached over 35 collegiate athletes and 3 professional athletes. Coach King has also been a member of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) since 1999.
Frances Carvajal
Coach & Trainer
Frances Carvajal, a Covington, VA native, used Basketball to take her many places in the world, and it still continues to be her passion today. A graduate in the class of 2001, she received several district, regional, and state honors as a student/athlete. She also is a part of 1,000 point club and first member of the 1,000 rebound club. Carvajal went on to play at West Virginia Wesleyan College on a full athletic scholarship. At Wesleyan, she received All-Conference honors all four years and regional honors her junior and senior year. Coach Carvajal has also been inducted in both her high school and college’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 2014 and 2016.
After college, she went on to play professionally for seven years in Europe and Australia. While playing in Australia, Frances started coaching the youth in the community and found that to be her true passion. Once she stopped playing professional basketball, Coach Carvajal has truly devoted herself to coaching. She completed 7 seasons coaching AAU in the Dallas area, an extremely competitive metroplex for girls basketball. Coach Frances is a firm believer in the fundamentals, dedication, and doing the little things. As a coach, she takes pride in offering any knowledge that makes a basketball player’s journey easier than her own.
Richard Barbee Jr
Coach & Trainer
Richard has a strong background in sports as he has traveled the world playing and training players in basketball. A Virginia Beach native, Richard attended Salem High School where he blossomed into an All-State basketball performer.
He played college ball at Belmont Abbey College, where he
earned his degree in Business Management. A ferocious scorer, Richard finished his college career as the
programs #4 all-time leading scorer with 2,000 plus points.
He followed a successful career with a trip to
England to play professionally. A very passionate guy, he believes in hard work and determination as being the cornerstone to achieving your goals. Richard’s fun personality makes him an ideal coach for the TWE family.
Christian Spencer
Coach & Trainer
Coach Christian Spencer, a Mobile, Alabama native, played 3 years of Varsity Basketball at Baker High School. After Baker HS, he received a scholarship to play at Universidad Del Sagrado Corazon in Puerto Rico. He majored in Secondary Education.
While in Puerto Rico, Christian played 6 years of professional basketball with the Carolina Pumas. In addition, he did skill development training with the Point Guard Academy. Coach Christian's attention to detail and positive coaching style is a perfect match for the TWE Basketball Program.
Jorge Ponce
Coach
Coach Ponce played High School Basketball at Kings Park High School. He has great experience in coaching with youth and select programs such as LI Lutheran and LI Lightning. He has a great knowledge of different systems, both offensive and defensive, and has an absolute love for the game. His philosophy is about tenacity, hard work, and playing as one single unit that can adjust to any opponent.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
"Work hard, and then keep working hard because there are other players that are working just as hard or even harder than you are right
now at this moment"
Maurice "Coach Mo" Talbert
Coach
Coach Mo has a passion for sports, especially basketball! Maurice grew up in Alexandria, Virginia, where he attended Macon Academy, and lettered in 4 sports. He later earned a scholarship to play at Bethel College.
Maurice has been training players and coaching basketball with TWE since 2015. He takes pride in helping athletes reach their full potential on the court, while encouraging them to do the same off the court.
FAVORITE QUOTE:
Outwork the Work" and "Don't count the reps, count the effort"
Corey Guderyahn
Coach
Coach Corey graduated from Round Rock High School in 2011, was a two year letterman and captain his senior year. He went on to play at St. Edward’s from 2012-2016 where he played under Coach Andre Cook, who was voted Division II Coach of the Year in 2019.
Corey went on to The University of Texas for Graduate school and worked with the Men’s Basketball Team under Shaka Smart from 2016-2018. He was able to assist with player workouts, editing film, scouting reports, and assisting coaching staff with recruiting.
In 2018, he was the Director of Basketball Operations for the University of North Carolina Asheville for the Men’s basketball program. He assisted with practice plans, scouting reports for special situations, recruiting, and player workouts.
Coach Corey's knowledge, experience and ability to lead at a high level is deeply appreciated.
Lexi Cunningham
Coach & Trainer
Coach Lexi is an Austin native. She played 4 years of Varsity Basketball at Westlake High School, where she was Offensive MVP for 3 seasons and scored over 1,000 points in her HS career.
Lexi then went on to compete at the collegiate level at St. Edwards University. Throughout HS and College, Lexi was known for her fierce, competitive mentality, and incredible sharp shooting ability. She graduated from St. Edwards with a Degree in Kinesiology.
Coach Lexi has made a tremendous impact in the basketball community. We are very excited to have her in the program.
Travis Knight
Coach & Trainer
Knight played at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) from 1992 – 1996, where he won a Big East Championship and made an NCAA Elite 8 appearance.
After college Knight played 7 seasons in the NBA with the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers. During his NBA career he made the All-Rookie Team in 1996, and won a National Championship with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2001.
Knight brings a tremendous amount of coaching experience and knowledge to the program. His impact is exceptional in the youth basketball world, hosting and leading Basketball Camps and Clinics throughout the US and internationally.
Knight adapts the iconic coaching styles of the legendary coaches he’s played under. All-time greats like Jim Calhoun, Del Harris, Rick Pitino, Tom Thibodeau, and Phil Jackson.
His personal coaching philosophy is an up tempo style offense, teaching players how to read defense and react. Strong emphasis on fundamentals, spacing, pressure defense and proper rotations.
Tommy Romano
Coach & Trainer
Coach Romano returns to Austin after spending the past year coaching and training athletes in China. Prior to China, Tommy has spent the last 5 years in Tucson, Arizona coaching at the High School and Junior College levels.
While at Pima Community College, he coached an All-American, 8 All Conference players, and trained over 200 Boys and Girls in the Tucson area over the summers.
An Austin native, he graduated from Westlake in 2007, where he was voted Offensive MVP. Coach Romano graduated from the University of Oregon. We are grateful to have a great leader and mentor for the youth like Coach Romano.