Untitled Document

Home | Showcase Events | Skill Clinics | Team Clinics | DVD | History | Contact


 


The 1% CLUB was officially founded in 2003 by Jeremy Russotti. However, it was the few years previous when the club really began to evolve to where it is today.

At the time, Jeremy Russotti was the head coach at Casa Grande High school in Petaluma, Ca. Within his team, he developed a close bond and relationship to two of his players - Angelo Tsagarakis (Oregon State) and Josh Akognon (Washington State). Because of their endless hours of training, and the belief that only a small population trained at their level, they jokingly labeled themselves with the 1% CLUB moniker.

Most impressive was Josh Akognon, who went from never playing organized basketball until his freshman year of high school, to the 4th leading scorer in the state of California (30.1 ppg) by the end of his senior year. Josh accolades include being a member of the Nigerian National Championship team; being named as FIBA World Championship Top 20 up and coming players; elected most "underrated player in the PAC-10" by Sports Illustrated; voted PAC-10 player of the week for his 25-point second half scoring outburst vs. National Champion runner-up UCLA. Recently, Josh transferred to Cal State Fullerton where he is averaging over 20ppg, while being top 5 in the nation in both three-pointers made and free-throw percentage. Josh was voted by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) 2nd team All-District 15; recognized as one of the top 150 players in the NCAA.

Recently, Josh Akognon led his team to a Big West Conference Title, earning MVP of the Big West Tournament. In the NCAA tournament, Josh had a 31-point outburst against the University of Wisconsin, and Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, Michael Flowers. ESPN Analysts Doug Gottlieb and Digger Phelps mentioned Josh as the "best player nobody ever heard of", as well as the "Players to watch list", respectively. Also, Josh has been listed by ESPN as the top shooter in the upcoming 2008 NBA Draft (with Chris Lofton).

Not to be outdone, Angelo Tsagarakis was recently picked up by Professonal Pro team JL Bourg (France) for the play-offs. He finished the season averaging 9.14 points per game (19 mpg), shooting 48 from the field and 92 from the free throw line.

With the success of his former players/trainees, coach Russotti decided to put his coaching career on hold and follow his passion in spreading the principles and training methods of the 1% CLUB to a variety of elite basketball players throughout California and the west coast.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICTURES