Coaches are always striving to build a balanced, versatile team. Tony Gorham, the coach of Maryland Team Pride, is on the verge of developing that wonderful environment.
“We started out a little slowly this spring, but things are coming together now,” Gorham said. “We started the year doing well with the transition from offense to defense, but we were struggling when we went from defense to offense. We’ve been working on getting our two post players more in the offensive flow, and that’s starting to happen.”
Maryland Team Pride should be hitting on all cylinders when they reach the 2015 ASGR Summer Basketball Playoff on July 27-30 in Charlotte, NC. The event, which will feature many of America’s top club programs, will be held at the Carolina Courts facility.
The two rising post players for Maryland Team Pride are Uchechi Ufochukwu (2016, 6-4, P) and Madison Cheatham (2016, 6-4, P).
“Uchechi is a super athlete. She has length, she is good from the free throw line on in, and she has some nice moves with her back to the basket,” Gorham said. “Madison is more of a high-low type of post, and she has a soft touch on her jump shot. She also has the ability to get to the basket.”
That size up front is complemented by a talented backcourt that includes Khepera Stokes (2016, 5-9, G), Candis Taylor (2016, 5-9, G) and Alexus King (2017, 5-8, G).
“We have three perimeter players that are also interchangeable,” Gorham said. “Khepera runs the court, and she is a super defender for 94 feet. She can also get to the basket, and she hits the open shot. Candis is a deadly shooter with NBA three-point range. She also rebounds and defends. Alexus is a very good shooter, and she is quick with the ball. She distributes the ball well, and she is another very good defender.”
Maryland Team Pride picked up another weapon in June when Jaylin Carodine (2018, 5-9, W) joined the club.
“Jaylin is just a super athlete, and she should give us a lot of help in July,” Gorham said.
