Premier Basketball

Joey Simmons

CEO/ President

Shane Laflin

Director of Evaluating Services

shane@premierbasketballreport.com

McDonald’s All-American Committee
Naismith Trophy Board of Selectors
ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting and Top 100

Shane graduated cum laude from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2004. From 2005-2007, he served two seasons as a Graduate Assistant at the University of Texas under Jody Conradt. Shane assisted the Longhorns’ program in all areas, including equipment, camps, on-campus recruiting, and as an on/off-site practice coordinator for the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Tempe, Arizona native returned to his alma mater as an Assistant Coach with the women’s program beginning in the 2007-2008 season.

Shane served as an Assistant Coach at the University of Texas at Arlington for four seasons under Samantha Morrow. He was in charge of all offensive strategies including transition, secondary break, and half court offenses and sets. He organized and coordinated the recruiting and worked on the court with the perimeter players.

He held the position of Assistant Coach/Recruiting Coordinator at Rice University under Greg Williams from 2012-2015. On the court, Shane worked daily with the Owls’ perimeter players.

Shane began his work with Premier after having close ties to the PBR staff at UTA and Rice, as both schools were National Subscribers to the recruiting service. He and Joey Simmons have been familiar with each other for over 20 years through the club and AAU basketball scene.

Duties for Premier Basketball include marketing and event operations responsibilities, Director of the Premier Basketball Report, and managing and directing Premier Basketball Camps and oversight of Premier Basketball Player Services. You can find Shane on the floor with players & teams observing, learning, and coaching whenever available.

Follow Shane on Twitter : @ShaneLaflin

Jason Key

National Evaluator

McDonald’s All-American Committee
ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting and Top 100

A true “gym rat,” Jason has closely followed the DFW high school basketball scene for the last 20 plus years. He became involved with select basketball in 2007 when he helped found TEAM RISE, a developmental basketball program in Rockwall, Texas. Jason coached hundreds of players and teams ranging from 3rd grade developmental teams to high school travel teams, winning several leagues and local tournaments. Many of Jason’s former players are currently playing at both the collegiate and high school levels.

Joining the Premier Basketball program in December of 2012 allowed Jason to pass on his player evaluations to college coaches. Jason is a PBR National Scout, focusing on players from coast to coast all over the country. Jason lives in Forney, Texas and is the proud father of three: Alysha, Jaitlyn, and Jackson.

Jason is viewed as one of the most credible and vast resources in the country when it comes to player evaluation.

Follow him on Twitter : @bballjkey

Mark Williams

International Evaluator

McDonald’s All-American Committee
Naismith Trophy Board of Selectors
ESPN HoopGurlz Recruiting and Top 100

Beginning his basketball profession at Rowlett High School, Mark continued on to play college basketball at Dallas Christian College as a two-year captain. Mark graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Biblical Studies and Youth and Family in 2005, and married his wife Laura in March 2006. They reside in Artesia, New Mexico with their three children, Hannah, Jonah, and Micah.

Mark has coached club basketball for seven years and founded Team RISE, a developmental basketball program in Rockwall, Texas that serviced over 100 players a week. His many years of involvement in select basketball led him to join the Premier Basketball team in September 2012. Mark was a predominant presence in starting the Premier Basketball Media branch of Premier Basketball, and leads the efforts in video production efforts for PBRtv.

Mark has been the point man for the Global branch of the Premier Basketball Report. He has grown the international evaluation of players and taken it to great levels. He routinely hosts camps in Australia and New Zealand as well as attends FIBA sanctioned events all over the world. He has acquired the nickname “WorldWideHoops” and it fits!

Follow Mark on Twitter : @MarkWilliamsBB

Kevina Lawrence

Director of Teams & Basketball Operations

Kevina played her high school basketball years at Eastern Hills High School. She went on to attend Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN. Lawrence worked at FedEx for over 18 years in the Maintenance Department. 

Lawrence began working with Joey Simmons as a coach with Texas Express and was one of the first teams to join Texas Elite. She has been coaching both men and women for over 25 Years. She has been a part of Premier Basketball since its inception. Lawrence has helped Premier Basketball run events for nearly 20 years. She recently became a full-time employee in February 2021

Kathy King

Tournament Coordinator

(877) 545-7008

Kathy played basketball and ran cross-country and track during her high school years at Mansfield High School. She graduated from Howard Payne University in 1999 and played college basketball all four years. Kathy taught PE and coached basketball, cross-country, volleyball, and track at the high school and middle school level for 14 years. She also enjoyed being a stay at home mom for two years. She is married to her husband, Pete, and they have a son, Cooper.

Kathy started working with Joey when she coached for the Texas Express club basketball program. She has helped him run and manage his summer tournaments for nearly 20 years, which led to a full-time position with Premier Basketball.

Chell Gunter

Tournament Coordinator

Chelle Gunter worked for years in the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth as both a Physical Education teacher, and Athletic Director of Middle School Sports.  She began working with Joey Simmons in 1997 with AAU Regional tournaments, as well as a member on the Board of Directors on Texas Shooting Stars with him.  

She has been a part of Premier Basketball tournaments since its inception.  Chelle has helped Joey run tournaments and events for nearly 25 years.   She recently became a full time employee of Premier Basketball in June of 2021.She is known as the “Face” of Premier Tournaments.

Follow her on Twitter: @GunterChelle 

Brittany Graham

Digital Media Content Creator

Brittany provides content during Premier Basketball events such as graphics, photographs, videos, highlights, social media content, and interviews. There will be purchasable action shots post-event as well as requested through itsbybritt@gmail.com. 

Brittany comes to Premier Basketball after much experience in the game as both a player and on staff at Division 1 institutions:

• 2018-2019 University of Alabama Women’s Basketball Director of Video and Creative Content 
• 2017-2018 Big 12 Conference Digital Media Content 
• 2015-2017 University of Denver Women’s Basketball Director of Basketball Operations 
• 2013-2015 Berry College Women’s Basketball Assistant Coach 
• 2012-2013 Emory University Women’s Basketball Volunteer Graduate Assistant Coach 
• 2013 Georgia State University M.A Sport Administration 
• 2010 Georgia State University, B.A English, Journalism 

Brittany Graham is freelance a Creative Sports Photographer and Digital Media Content Creator, located in the DFW since May of 2019. Since 2013, Graham has held a variety of positions in college athletics giving her a diverse skillset, which has now allowed her to showcase her work in a wide range of ways. She now provides creative sports photography for local high schools, personal trainers, and professional athletes, in addition to custom graphics and social media branding consulting for athletes and small businesses. 

Most recently, Graham served as the Director of Video and Creative Content for the University of Alabama Women’s Basketball Team, helping manage the team’s social media accounts, creating recruiting mail-outs, in addition to all video coordinator responsibilities. 

In 2018, she worked at the Big 12 Conference (Irving, TX) as a Digital Media Correspondent providing digital and social media presence at various Big 12 Championship events, helped plan and coordinate Basketball and Football Media Days, while creating other original video content on conference student-athletes.  

Other past work experience includes The University of Denver Director of Women’s Basketball Operations and Berry College (Rome, GA) Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach where she helped grow both teams’ social media accounts from the ground up, maintained team’s budget and travel expenses, planned all on-campus recruiting visits, organized team summer camps, and more.

Graham earned a Division I basketball scholarship from Georgia State University graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in Journalism. She also received her Master’s in Sport Administration from Georgia State while serving as a Volunteer Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Emory University. 

Graham grew up in a family of basketball as her father Paul coached men’s basketball at Division I schools: SMU, New Mexico, Oklahoma State, Washington State, Colorado, and Georgia State, and now currently at Skyline High School (Dallas). Her older brother Nick, also played in college at Washington State University.

Andrew Gilbert

Tournament Coordinator

Andrew is in his first year at Select Events Basketball, serving as the Texas Regional Director. Prior to coming on board to Select, he worked in Operations for the Washington Nationals.

Andrew is a graduate of the University of Delaware with a degree in Sport Management and Operations Management. He is currently pursuing his master’s in Sport Administration from Ohio University. Andrew was born and raised in Smyrna, DE.