Grant Van Hoozer – Van Hoozer Basketball Academy

August 23, 2019August 23, 2019

Preparing for the Fall and Beyond

Basketball on floor of empty basketball court

We hope you had a great summer and are back into the flow of the school year! The Spring/Summer season was very impactful for all of our teams, and we are excited to see what the future holds this year and beyond for all of our players. Our goal as coaches is to help them maximize their potential both individually and collectively and prepare them for the next level. While our program is competitive and wants to do our best, we believe that achieving goals and winning are a by-product of focusing on the process of improving every day.

As we begin the new school year, we have been meeting and planning for this next year. Here are some of the things that are coming up in the Fall that may interest you:

We will be conducting workouts in the Katy area for our players and teams with some of our coaches and trainers to help them prepare for their school season. Also, some of our Katy Raptors 2024 8th grade teams will be playing in Fall tournaments to complement the school season. Whether you are a current Katy Raptors player or a player who wants to get better and possibly join our program, email Mike Van Hoozer to find out more and to be connected to one of our trainers.
We are currently evaluating expanding the number of teams for our high school players. While we have had our Katy Raptors 2022 team playing by grade for the last 3 years, we may look at having a couple of teams at the high school level across 9-12th grade. One possibility would be to have a Varsity and Junior Varsity team. We believe this would help in their development as they move through high school and open up opportunities for high school players that have reached out to our program but could not join a team due to age limitations of our current team. If you are a high school player and are interested in a different and possibly better AAU experience, feel free to email Mike Van Hoozer about your interest in our teams.
We also have our Katy Raptors 2025 7th grade team that will be playing school basketball for the first time this year and continuing their AAU tournaments in the Spring/Summer season.

We are always looking to improve the impact that we can make in the lives of our players and teams on and off the court. We feel confident that we have the coaches and trainers to teach them basketball skills and how to play the game the right way. It’s also the X-factors that we want to share that will help them go beyond self-imposed limitations and provide leadership skills that extend beyond the court. Let us know if you want to join in our efforts!

June 2, 2019June 2, 2019

A Great Season So Far

This season has been excellent for all of our teams! Our Katy Raptors basketball program has grown in interest and impact, and we have expanded to 5 teams including one 6th grade team, three 7th grade teams, and one 9th grade team. The boys have improved in their basketball ability and skills, their mental toughness and resiliency, and their leadership on and off the court.

Regarding our 9th grade team, I am so proud of the way they have played this season! They have had to learn to play with some new teammates, and we have had to manage through injuries to key position players. Through it all, they have focused on being present in the moment and giving their best – key principles that we discuss a lot during our Leadership Moments at practice. They have played in 5 very competitive tournaments with an overall record of 17-6. They have made it to the Championship game in every tournament with a first place finish in one of them.

While there have been many great wins along with some tough losses, our best tournament performance may have been the Kingwood Classic. In this tournament, they played in the NCAA Certified Division, won their Pool Play bracket, and lost in the Platinum Division Championship Game finishing with a 4-1 overall record against some of the top teams in the nation!

As our summer schedule begins, we have a couple of open slots if you are interested in joining our 9th grade team and becoming a part of our program. Email Coach Mike Van Hoozer with the following information:

Grade and School Team
Position, Height, and Weight
AAU Experience

March 12, 2019March 12, 2019

2019 Season is off to a great start!

All of our teams are now full and practicing and playing in tournaments! Our 2024 teams have led the way so far with some impressive finishes in their tournaments including final four finishes in the Rytes Warriors Spring Break Tournament this past weekend! We look forward to making this season a great moment and helping to develop our players to be leaders on and off the court!

If you are still interested in playing on one of our teams, you can email me to be put on a waiting list. While we may not be able to get you into one of our programs this year, there still may be opportunities for your son to train with us either in a group or individual setting with one of our coaches or trainers.

February 13, 2019February 13, 2019

Opportunity to Join Our Program

We have a few spots open on our Katy Raptors 2022 9th grade team and are planning a private workout for players who are interested within the next week. You can email me directly or complete our contact form to tell us more about your son and your interest in joining this team and our program. Please include the following information:

Name of your son
School team and position
Any previous AAU experience
Your contact information

We will get back to you about a time and place based upon the response. If you are interested, please contact us immediately, so we can plan accordingly. We are excited about the upcoming season and will be starting very soon!

December 7, 2018December 7, 2018

Interested in Joining Our Team?

We are in the planning stages for our Spring/Summer AAU season and looking forward to developing our leaders on and off the court! If this sounds like something you would be interested in for your son, check out our teams and programs and email me for more information. If you are not a part of one of our teams or academy, we would love to talk to you to see if it is a fit for your student athlete. All of our teams including our 2022 team, which I personally coach, will be looking for a few select athletes to join us for the Spring/Summer AAU season. We also offer skills and shooting training for players who might be a fit for our program.

If you are interested in joining our program, email me with the following information:

Your name and phone number
Your son’s name
Current grade and school
Current school team and level and any select teams that he has played for
What you are looking for in an AAU basketball program for your son

We are planning some workouts for prospective players in the coming weeks and would be glad to include you in those based on the needs of our teams and the fit within our program. We are very selective on the type of player that will be a good fit for our program and want competitive players who want to develop further as a basketball player and leader on and off the court. We don’t want to just assemble a group of talented individuals. We want to develop a great team of competent and capable leaders who want to be coached and developed to help them maximize their potential and achieve their goals!

September 28, 2018

Preparing for the Fall Season and Beyond

We hope that school is going well for everyone! We encourage so many of our athletes to focus on multiple sports and various forms of training both in season and out of season to maximize their talent and abilities. In our experience and in talking with high school and college coaches, they appreciate and recruit multi-sport athletes because of their versatility, athleticism, and leadership.

Basketball on floor of empty basketball court

As it relates to basketball, we hope everyone is planning for a great Fall and Winter season in both competitive youth leagues, Junior High, and High School. The players on our teams have invested time in their Spring and Summer AAU season to grow and become better and look forward to demonstrating what they have learned for their respective school teams.

Our Academy mission is to use basketball as a vehicle to develop leaders on and off the court, and our focus is to prepare them for the next level of competition including high school and college. We want all of our athletes to be successful and impactful leaders who leverage the skills and core values that they learn through our academy in whatever they do. We are confident that we can teach them to play basketball the right way; the differentiator is developing their leadership and mental toughness skills.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in for your son, check out our teams and programs and email me for more information. If you are not a part of one of our teams or academy, we would love to talk to you to see if it is a fit for your student athlete. All of our teams including our 2022 team, which I personally coach, will be looking for a few select athletes to join us for the Spring/Summer AAU season. We also offer some skills and shooting training for players who might be a fit for our program.

Basketball is an excellent sport to learn teamwork, leadership, and perseverance, and we look forward to helping our athletes develop in all of those areas! After all, we are preparing them for the Fall season and beyond!

July 20, 2018July 20, 2018

Spurs National Championship Update

Katy Raptors 2022 at 2018 Spurs Championship

Our Katy Raptors 2022 team had a great showing at the 2018 Spurs National Basketball Championship Tournament! They won their Pool Play division going 2-0 in decisive wins. They won their first tournament bracket game by a big margin earning a place in the Gold Championship Tournament Bracket. While the final result was not what we wanted, I love the heart and talent of this incredible team! We lost our Elite 8 tournament game in a heartbreaker by 1 on a last second shot late Saturday night after playing our third game of a long day!

Overall, we finished 3-1 in the Spurs National Championship and had college referees and other coaches and fans complimenting the way these young men play the game and compete! I am so proud of our Katy Raptors team and parents! I love coaching this team, and I would go to battle any day with these guys! We have one tournament left this season and are looking forward to competing in the 2018 Prime Time National Basketball Championship in Dallas July 25-29th.

May 31, 2018

Mid Season Report

The Katy Raptors 2022 team has a done a great job in the first half of their season! The focus for this team has been integrating a couple of new players, competing in competitive tournaments, and preparing this group for high school basketball. They have responded well with a 10-2 record, going undefeated in Pool Play in every tournament we have played in. They won a qualifying Prime Time championship tournament, finished in the quarterfinals of the Pearland/Houston Showcase Tournament, and finished in the semifinals of the Summer Prep Showcase.

We have also continued developing all of the players in our basketball academy with our “Leadership Moments.” In April, we had former Seven Lakes High School and Stephen F. Austin point guard Trey Pinkney come and speak about working hard to achieve your dreams.

In May, we had Seven Lakes Head Basketball Coach Shannon Heston come and speak about developing championship habits.

Now, the focus is on getting prepared for 2 big national championships that we have been invited to in San Antonio and Dallas in July. Coaches who are interested in our schedule can view it here. You can also contact Head Coach Mike Van Hoozer for player and information inquiries.

March 26, 2018

First Tournament Championship of the Season!

Our Katy Raptors teams were very active in several different tournaments this past weekend including the Prime Time Sports Spring Shootout. Our Katy Raptors 2024 team made it to the championship game and came in 2nd place in a very close game. Our Katy Raptors 2022 team went 5-0 and won the championship game for their first tournament and their first tournament championship of the season. I was very proud of how this team played including their speed, teamwork, tempo, and defense.

Our Katy Raptors 2025 team played in a tournament at Alodia and came in 2nd place. We are excited to announce that we now have 4 teams that are playing within our academy, and all of our teams are working hard at becoming their best both individually and collectively as a team. We are also conducting our “leadership moments” on Monday nights as a part of our practice to focus on leadership, teamwork, and mental sports performance principles and techniques.

We are excited about the tournament season and helping our players develop as leaders on and off the court!

February 12, 2018

Official Practice Begins March 5

Now that school basketball has finished, we will be officially kicking off our tournament season on March 5th for all of our teams. Our players and coaches are excited about the opportunity to grow, develop, and compete! Our mission and focus is to develop leaders on and off the court and take a holistic approach to skill development physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. In addition to our skill building practices and playing in the most competitive tournaments, we will have even more opportunities this year for them to develop as a player and person including:

Leadership moments – Group sessions for all of our players to come together and develop leadership skills as well as skills around mental toughness and character development.
Friends of The Program Moments – Group sessions where we invite friends of our basketball and leadership academy to come in and share their expertise in the areas of peak performance, personal development, and effective skills for navigating the next level of high school, college, and beyond.
Goal Setting – Individual opportunities to teach all of our players our effective system for setting and achieving the right goals.
Serving The Community – Team opportunities to participate in service projects for people and causes within our sphere of influence.
Individual and Team Training – Opportunities to sign up for additional skill training including shooting, specific position play including playing point guard, speed and explosiveness training from my friend and peak performance colleague Will Collins, etc.

The difference is always seen in the changed lives of others, and we are looking forward to continuing to make a positive impact in the lives of the players in our program both on and off the court!