Meet Kristopher Kuhn | Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kristopher Kuhn and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kristopher, is your business focused on helping the community? If so, how?
When we think of “traditional success,” it always involves a college degree and “getting a good job.” I wasn’t good at school and could never keep a job past a few months, so by “traditional” standards, the structure I live in was not built for me to succeed… But I am not a person that will accept failure, at anything. So I built my own structure of success, through sports.

Even though I graduated high school with a 2.2 GPA, I still had over 20 division 1 colleges alone that visited my parents house, offering for me to attend their school FREE, not because of my grades, but because of my ability. I later graduated college with a degree in Business Administration, and a 3.4 GPA, but I realized my value was not only measured in what I knew, but also what I could do.

My journey is not exclusive. There are over 351 Division I schools sharing up to 13 scholarships on their team across the United States. There are over 1,400 4-year colleges with basketball programs across the country providing over 18,200 potential scholarship opportunities each year to our youth for not only their grades, but their abilities. That is nearly 375 college basketball scholarship opportunities per state.

HoopRank LLC. is the first A-Z Sports Development Program of its kind. Our state licensed child care center teaches children to be confident, coordinated movers with extremely tuned fine and gross motor skills as early as 18 months. We use basketball to teach early education and preschool curriculum ages 3-5, and our staff consisting of four former professional basketball players helps train and develop players ages 6-19 to a level of college marketability. Our in house media team has over $50k in camera/ lighting equipment to follow our players, build their resumes, and market them to college recruiters in the highest quality.

Our overall success is measured in college scholarships and over 90% of the players that have graduated through our program have received college scholarship opportunities. Very simply, “We grow future collegiate basketball stars,” beginning at age 18 months. We are the first “A-Z Sports Development Program of its kind.

***As a side note, I also have a non-profit that powers youth sports as a whole.

HoopRank Communities provides:

– Financial Aid for for families who cannot afford the fees associated with their child(ren)’s youth sports program
– Gear and equipment so that athletes may compete equally
– Tuition reimbursement for college walk on athletes
– Transportation to and from sporting events

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
HoopRank LLC. is the first A-Z Sports Development Program of its kind. Our state licensed child care center teaches children to be confident, coordinated movers with extremely tuned fine and gross motor skills as early as 18 months. We use basketball to teach early education and preschool curriculum ages 3-5, and our staff consisting of four former professional basketball players helps train and develop players ages 6-19 to a level of college marketability. Our in house media team has over $50k in camera/ lighting equipment to follow our players, build their resumes, and market them to college recruiters in the highest quality.

Our overall success is measured in college scholarships and over 90% of the players that have graduated through our program have received college scholarship opportunities. Very simply, “We grow future collegiate basketball stars,” beginning at age 18 months. We are the first “A-Z Sports Development Program of its kind.

My non profit and 501-C3, “HoopRank Communities” provides:

– Financial Aid for for families who cannot afford the fees associated with their child(ren)’s youth sports program
– Gear and equipment so that athletes may compete equally
– Tuition reimbursement for college walk on athletes
– Transportation to and from sporting events

What sets HoopRank apart from others is our program structure and employees GUARANTEE our results. The side effect of doing *anything* over a sustained period of time is, “you become good at it.” I honestly believe HoopRank is the best basketball training and development program in the country. I’ve never walked into a “daycare” and seen professional or collegiate basketball players teaching children how to dribble, but the “guarantee” in our work is that HoopRank provides the opportunity of sustained basketball development, guidance, and mentoring to children for the first 19 of 18 years of their life… The side effect of doing *anything* over a sustained period of time is, “you become good at it.” An 18 year-old that has been playing basketball for 17 years will inevitably be better at basketball than someone who has been doing it less. That is our guarantee.

I am most excited about the opportunities we provide to children. I’ve watched young kids that I know didn’t have the best situation at home, literally work their way into college. Literally work their way into providing for themselves and their families as a result of the foundation HoopRank helped to establish. The journey is always exciting, but as any competitor, the reward is in the results.

I got where I am in business today by tuning everything and everyone else out, and focusing on my business. I learned how to stop answering my phone or responding to texts outside of *MY* work hours long ago. Once my phone stopped ringing with the “wyd” texts and phone calls, my business started to really grow! Creativity requires “FREE thought.” The more things we “know,” the less we can “create.” I had to focus on knowing less. Concerning myself with less of everyone’s business. Not knowing as much current events and news. I understand the mind is only capable of thinking of one thing at a time, and I *need* those thoughts to be FREE so I can create and build my company. I had to learn to know and concern myself with less.

It was definitely not easy. Hardest thing on this journey is looking up and missing funerals birthdays… But it’s the price to be paid for truly putting your focus and attention into something greater. I overcame the challenges by simply never allowing myself to give up, and trying my best to learn quickly.

I learned that lessons do not have to be learned hard or even long. We can choose to learn quickly, or we can choose to learn slowly. That is the only measure that determines how “smart” someone is.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
This all depends on the friend and what they wanted to do. Sorry I can’t offer more. Some friends would love a home cooked meal, others a fancy restaurant. I would do what I could to please both.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
My wife, Ashley Kuhn, who is honestly the ONLY entrepreneur I look to for inspiration.

Website: www.hooprank.com ; www.hooprankKIDS.com ; www.hooprank.org

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Facebook: HoopRank Training & Development

Youtube: YouTube.com/hooprank