OUR TEAM
EXPERIENCED BASKETBALL
PROFESSIONALS
GIORGI KOGUASHVILI – FOUNDER & COACH
Giorgi is the founder of Brooklyn Basketball Academy Inc. At the age of 5, thanks to the movie “Space Jam” he fell in love with basketball and has been intimately involved in the game ever since. Giorgi played for his U16 Georgian Basketball National Team and moved to the USA at the age of 17 to continue his career in the USA. He then went to Mountain State Academy in Beckley, West Virginia, where he played for one of the top 25 varsity teams in the country. As a senior, Gio played for Hamilton Heights Christian Academy in Tennessee, where he averaged 19.5 Points and 6.5 Rebound. He then became a part of the Hall of Fame for the school, and received a full athletic scholarship to Union University in Jackson, TN where he started 10 consecutive games as a freshmen. During his junior year, Gio transferred to University of Minnesota Crookston with a full basketball scholarship. There he pursued his bachelor’s degree majoring in business management with a minor in economics.
Certifications: Global Sports Managment – NYU; EuroLeague Coaches Academy – https://headcoaches.org
SEVAG KETENJIAN – COACH
Sevag has a BA in Human Resource Management. After playing professional basketball for 9 years overseas, Sevag shifted his career to coaching in 2018. Since, he has coached multiple men and women teams both on the professional level (D1, D2) and youth levels in Lebanon and Armenia. He served on the Lebanese U18 and Armenian u16 national teams as assistant coach. Sevag is a FIBA licensed coach, he also holds a Serbian basketball coaching certificate, and recently graduated from the Euroleague Head Coaching Academy at the University of Belgrade, Serbia. Alongside coaching, Sevag was the athletic director at Haigazian University in Beirut, where he recruited for and managed nine different sports teams. In early 2021, Sevag moved to the United States to continue his coaching career. With his international basketball background, he hopes to bridge the European and American coaching schools and enrich young athletes’ baseketball journeys both on and off the court. Besides English, Sevag speaks Armenian, Arabic and French.
DANIEL SOKOLOVSKY – COACH
Columbia University Graduate in Exercise Physiology (MA – 3.87 GPA), Daniel (28) has tremendous experience and knowledge in coaching basketball. Daniel is a current head coach of BKM Lucenec – 1st division (SBL) professional basketball club in Slovakia. Before the head coaching position, he was an Assistant Coach and Defensive Coordinator for NINERS Chemnitz – Germany BBL (highest basketball league in Germany). Before NINERS, he was an assistant coach and director of player development at Maccabi Rishon LeZion (Israel Premier League – EuroCup). Before Rishon LeZion, he was assistant coach/strength and conditioning coach at Parma in VTB league in Russia for two years. Daniel is a great teacher of the game and he is happy to have an opportunity to share his knowledge with our campers this summer. Besides English, Daniel speaks Russian, Hebrew, German and Spanish languages.