Meet KP

Kelvin (KP) Potts has led since he could dribble, maneuvering the ball being his forte. Yeah, residing in The Big Show or hoopin' overseas is the primal quest of most ballers but when those doors weren't ajar, Potts found another way to lead. He is teaching others.

There are those so-called trainers to the stars but that's glitzy Hollywood Hills and 180 degrees away from the grit of the East Bay.

Potts' approach is training guys to become better, star or not and now there is a 17+-minute video documenting his upbringing with his time on the court as a player and also now as the proprietor of a basketball skills training enterprise. Call it the past and present true story of KP and in it he lays out the future.

Check it out.

Familiar Bay area hoops figures and players such as Frank Otis Sr., Anthony Eggleton, Travis Farris, Kiwi Gardner, T.J. Wallace and Kendall Jackson appear in the film and each offers their respective takes on KP and his work.

The KP written bio

"I was playing for Coach Frank Knight at Fremont High [Oakland] and my dream was to go D-1," according to Potts. "Even at that age, guys looked to me and I was leading workouts. "I've always been a student of the game, paying attention to detail."

He ended up at Clark University, a D-2 school in Atlanta, earning Freshman of the Year and All American honors.

But the Clark coach was fired.

Potts returned to California, attending Chabot College in Hayward and playing for veteran Coach Denny Aye.

Then it was off to College of Idaho as the combined classes at Clark and Chabot negated Clark accepting any of the four D-1 offers extended to him.

It was an easy on-court transition but far from anything he had ever experienced.away from basketball.

"The different culture and environment were quite an adjustment but I looked at it as a place where you grow up and become a man or fold," Potts explained.

Next was a short stint playing-for-pay in Ireland.

Potts returned to the Bay Area as "it wasn't what I expected."

Now it was time to turn an avocation into his life mission.

He began working as a skills trainer at The Triple Threat Academy in Hayward.

"A lot of people wanted to work out with me," Potts offered and soon he went out on his own, starting the KP Project, based on basketball skills development but also life mentorship.

Soon, he stable of trainees included Jabari (Missouri) Brown, Kiwi Gardner, Dominic (Oregon) Artis, T.J. Wallace, Elisha Davis, Brittany Boyd,Jabari (California) Bird, former UCLA backcourter Malcolm Lee and many others.

According to Potts, "These are many of the people I've grown relationships with, on and off the court."

He added, "I wanted to provide the atmosphere, the energy and the positive momentum to get players ready for the big stage. I don't work out everybody -- you need to buy into what we are trying to achieve."