Coach Charles Atakora, founder of Hoop Scholars, originally from Silver Spring, Maryland. He grew up playing in the Washington D.C. area AAU circuit. He played at Bishop O’Connell High School, Virginia and Montgomery Blair High School, Maryland. He was coached by the likes of Coach Joe Wootten and several respected coaches. He then continued to play at Marymount University for three seasons and was a two time team captain.Coach Charles coached at Coach Wootten’s Summer Camp and Marymount University basketball camps. He then went on to act as an assistant coach at Albert Einstein High School,Montgomery County, Maryland. These experiences led to a transition from the love to play into a love to help develop talent.He then continued to train student athletes ranging from elementary age through college in the San Francisco Bay Area from 2012 to 2018.He then acted as an assistant coach (Skills Development Coach) at Frederick High School Girls Varsity from 2020 to present.Coach Charles has endured the journeys of being a student athlete from a youth to the collegiate level. He balanced the priorities of academics with a high level commitment to athletic success. He has played against and with elite level talent across the United States as well as received coaching and training from well-respected elite level coaches. Coach Charles looks to utilize the game of basketball as he knows it, to develop elite level talent. But most importantly to act as nothing more than a positive influence, leader and mentor to the younger generations coming up. Coach Charles views athletics as the tool to teach, instill and foster great values and lessons that are vital in nearly all aspects of life. Hoop Scholars celebrates and cultivates the student-athlete. The athlete that demonstrates strong academic growth through classroom achievements such as Honor Roll report cards is celebrated. The athlete that is striving towards academic success is the embodiment of a Hoop Scholar at Hoop Scholar Athletics