James Okine

James Okine is one of Africa’s finest youth torchbearers. He is an avid sportsman and founder of the EAGLES BASKETBALL ACADEMY- (EBA), an Academy committed to help develop talent and teach life skills through sports, and EAGLES CARE FOUNDATION- (ECF), a non-profit organization committed to empowering young Ghanaian prospects.

Coach Okine, as he is affectionately called, is also regarded as one of Ghana’s biggest contributors to grassroots basketball. He has trained hundreds of basketball-loving young men and women for several academies and schools, chalking several honors, noble mentions and nominations in the sport. He outmuscled his challenges to pursue several academic plaudits including a degree in Human resource management, online certificate in 3D coaching program, leadership development certification from Yali, Dick Daniel leadership group, and the John C. Maxwell Team.

He lost his father at age 14, a few months before his basic education certificate examinations, and the economic stress that put on his mother meant that he had to drop out of High School in order to support the family. He has eight [8] siblings and he grew up in a notorious, coastal community called Zambrama line in the capital, a place noted for depravity and crimes such as armed robbery, fraud, rape and drug trafficking. Deviance seemed to be the bread and butter of the community’s youth and nine out of every ten children either did not attend or dropped out of school before their sixteenth birthday.

Often, James Okine commuted between Zambrama line and Dansoman- one of Ghana’s upper-class communities- for the purposes of trade. It was during these trips that he fell in love with basketball, and by the age of seventeen [17], he had committed fully to the sport and signed for an American-owned club called Kingdom Hoops. In juvenile basketball, the young James stood out amongst his peers for his finesse, flawless technique, game intelligence and athleticism, and upon glowing recommendation received a scholarship to hone his undoubted potential and pursue High School education at the Pella Christian High in Iowa, USA.