Jeremy Russotti featured in RISE

NorCal's Jeremy Russotti is the subject of a feature in the newest edition of Hoop Culture Magazine:

    Please tell us how you made a global business from the game of basketball?

    Just ask Jeremy Russotti as he began to chuckle when asked that question.

     “I look back at this journey I started nine years ago and laugh at where it is today. I could have never imagined the game of basketball could have impacted my life so deeply.”

    1% CLUB Basketball Services was officially founded in 2003 by Russotti. However, it was a few years previous when the club really began to evolve to where it is today. At that time, Jeremy was the head coach at Casa Grande High in Petaluma, CA.

    Within his team, he developed a close bond to two of his players Angelo Tsagarakis (Oregon State) and Josh Akognon (Washington State).

    Because of their endless hours of training and cocky belief that only a small minute population trained at their level ­ they jokingly labeled themselves with the 1% CLUB moniker. Says Jeremy Russotti, “we were all very confident at that time and developed a brotherhood. Both kids became California State Players of the year and we believed that if we all stuck together, we could do anything we wanted in basketball”. Even though coach Russotti knew the direction both kids were taking in their journey as student athletes, his path at this point was open-ended.

    After Josh Akognon graduated from high school, Jeremy retired from coaching and started to train players throughout northern California. “I started to realize that maybe I had a gift to train others and what we were doing really could impact other players from other regions”.

    Within 2 short years, Jeremy formed “The Finest” Instructional Showcase Events, for guys like Josh who were never recruited heavily and used skill training to drive his way into college.

    By using the story of Josh Akognon to drive his event curriculum, Jeremy built the events up to 6, expanding to Northern and Southern California, as well as to Alaska.

    During this time, Coach Russotti began working on a shooting prototype that would help in an area of shooting that really nobody else was focusing on at the time ­ Open Hand Follow through. The J-Glove was born and instantly became viral with the basketball bloggers and online stores.

    “It also didn’t hurt that a few of the guys I trained led the NCAA in 3-Pointers made in 2008, and 3-Point % in 2009”.

    Currently, the J-Glove is one of the highest selling basketball products online and used by multiple NBA, WNBA, and NCAA top teams.

    From the success of the J-Glove and his widely viewed youtube videos, Jeremy was contacted by Alan Stein (Nike Official Body Conditioning Trainer) in 2010. “Alan gave me a call to tell me to keep working hard and he liked my training style. He also mentioned he would love to work parts of my company. I was able to scrapbook 9 years of hard work and put it to an archived DVDs that I can show my grandkids.

    It is also special since guys like Josh and Angelo can be seen as high school players, and then through a latter DVD as a professional. And to top it off, I even have my two young children working out in them as well. Priceless!!”

    Once Josh and Angelo became professional basketball players, Jeremy was still a part of their careers. Since it wasn’t broken, he decided to start Green Room Training ­ or basketball training for the elite college or professional athlete. 

    Currently, it is an all-inclusive program that includes 4-star housing, chefs, massage therapists, body conditioning, skill training, cardiovascular analysis, nutrition, etc. Says Jeremy, “In my company, this is playtime for me. It is not work to train professional athletes, but rather rewarding to know that you can help this player make hundreds of thousands or potentially millions or more dollars in the future.”

    Jeremy has visions of Green Room Training be the top training spots in the next three years for some of the top players in the world.

    Furthermore, Jeremy has taken his business model to the next level and started to franchise his innovative training curriculum. Currently 1% CLUB Basketball K-12th Grade Training is in eight Cities in California and Oregon, and expanding to another 10 cities in the USA and globally within the next year.

    Jeremy has found a way to certify his trainers, develop a progressive marketing plan that allows him to spread his training worldwide. Says Jeremy, “I am having an absolute blast traveling to other cities and states and implementing my training curriculum and ideas. We have reached thousands of kids already in the first 12 weeks of its existence. It is a lot of work, but it is well worth it and were really improving the quality of training in the areas we are touching down at.”

    What is in the future for 1% CLUB Basketball. “Well we have a new product coming out for all sports called V-Bands that I am really excited about. Also developing three other products for Golf and Baseball. We also have a verbal to have two major NBA spokespersons for our products and potentially a deal with the NBA that will bring our products to TV. We are also working in multiple iphone and Blackberry applications for our products and services, in order to stay cutting edge with technology.”

    Jeremy Russotti sounds like a man on a mission who is really trying to put his stamp on the game of basketball in many ways.

    Says Jeremy, “I absolutely love what I am doing. I do not feel I am working at all. I don’t think I am a business savvy type person, but rather I try and put out products or services that I would like as a customer, or try to reach my clients in ways others do not. I try to be different.”

    Thank you Jeremy Russotti for being different.