MEET OUR COACHES

Coach Jason Royal was born & raised in Chicago, Illinois & its surrounding suburbs but in 2021 relocated to Maricopa, AZ. Growing up his home life was centered on faith in God and family. Early on, it was evident he developed two interests – basketball & education. He excelled in his education by attending and graduating from Gordon Technical High School, Western Illinois University with an Bacholrs of Arts in Marketing Communication, and University of Phoenix with a Master’s in Education. His basketball & collegiate playing career included 4 years high school basketball at Gordon Tech & Football at Eastern Illinois University.

After his playing career, he desired to give back to his community and the sport and transitioned his gifts & talents to coaching. In 2018, he founded a nonprofit organization Young Gifted Elite., that focuses on Education, Service, and Basketball. While basketball is the vehicle used to get the kids into the program, our goal is to use this as a gateway to get them involved into other programs including, but not limited to Community Service Outreach, and other various activities.

Coach Jay coaching career spans over 15+ years with a stint at Western Illinois as Girls Basketball Grad Assistant / Player Development Coach. From 2013- 2017, Head Coach for the Wheatland Wizards. In 2017, he joined the Metea Valley staff as the Assistant Girls Varsity Coach.

Coach Jay brings a wealth of knowledge in team strategy development, player coaching, leadership, and recruitment.

Coach Jay currently is this Head Varsity Coach at Maricopa High School in Arizona.

Coach Triston Walters was born and raised in Chicago Illinois. The love for basketball started from the time he learned to walk, and the rest is history. Growing up he knew how important education was and he excelled on and off the court. On the court he was very passionate, and it showed in his game. While in middle school he was a top player, and his team won several championships, and this continued throughout high school. After graduating he played two year of college basketball due to a knee injury that required him to stop playing. Knowing that this could not be the end he enrolled in American Public University and earned his Bachelor of Sports Science in 2016.

He began to use his skills and knowledge of basketball to encourage the youth to get to the next level. In 2018 Coach Triston and a good friend founded Young Gifted Elite in 2018. This is a nonprofit organization which was created to provide an environment for upcoming basketball players to get the foundation that they needed to help their game overall. Living in the inner city the options are limited so giving back to the community was a main goal knowing that if you do not put anything into the community how can you expect change.

Coach Triston has over 12 years of experience starting with the Memorial Park Wildcats organization 2010-2019 as the head coach. He is currently the coach of the Young Gifted Elite 16U national head coach and assistant coach for the 17U national team.

Coach Triston currently is this Head JV Coach at Maricopa High School in Arizona.