The Portland Path Blazers have introduced basketball additions and promotions for the 2023-2024 season.
Dr. Evan Ellis begins his first season in Portland as director of Well being and Efficiency. Dr. Ellis has been the workforce’s co-physician since 2014 and has labored as an orthopedic surgeon at Rebound in Portland. As a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Ellis makes a speciality of knee and shoulder accidents, sports activities medication, cartilage restore and ACL reconstruction.
Dr. Ellis carried out his undergraduate schooling at Johns Hopkins College, the place he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and was a tutorial All-American basketball participant. After receiving his medical diploma from the College of Michigan Medical College, Dr. Ellis accomplished his internship and residency coaching on the College of Washington in Seattle, WA. He then accomplished his coaching as a Sports activities Fellow at Washington College in St. Louis, MO. Throughout his fellowship, Dr. Ellis is a part of the medical employees of the St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Blues of the NFL and NHL, respectively.
Dr. Courtney Watson involves the Portland Path Blazers and can function Head Athletic Coach after spending the earlier 15 seasons with the Los Angeles Sparks of the WNBA and most just lately as Director of Sports activities Medication and Head Athletic Coach.
Along with her years of WNBA expertise, Dr. Watson additionally grew to become boxing’s first feminine athletic coach as coach of welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather. Within the spring of 2022, the Los Angeles native additionally served as the top athletic coach for the Ladies’s USA Nationwide Workforce on the 2022 FIBA World Cup, the place america took residence a gold medal, making it the third of her profession.
Geoff Clark has assumed the function of Scouting Medical Director and can help Normal Supervisor Joe Cronin in evaluating potential gamers from a medical perspective and assessing harm tendencies and well being greatest practices throughout the league. Clark is getting into his twenty sixth season with the Path Blazers.
Dale Boyd has been promoted to the workforce’s head energy coach. Boyd joined Portland in 2022 as an Assistant Power Coach and beforehand held the identical title for Time beyond regulation Elite through the 2021-2022 season. Boyd has additionally served as the top energy and conditioning coach for the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League.
Jeff Kraayeveld joins the Path Blazers as an assistant workforce therapist after working as an athletic coach at Rebound Orthopedics & Neurosurgery. Previous to Rebound, Kraayeveld beforehand interned with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and was an athletic coach for the Portland Lumberjax, knowledgeable lacrosse workforce.
This season, the Path Blazers will set up a vitamin division in a model new, state-of-the-art kitchen led by Hali Foreman, vitamin director/government chef, through the opening of the Path Blazers Observe Facility in October. Along with Foreman, CJ Jackson, Danielle Julifs and skilled workforce dietitian Michelle Tegenkamp will serve the workforce from the culinary and dietary features.
Foreman was employed in Could 2023 to guide building of the brand new kitchen and oversee the meals and vitamin program. Previous to becoming a member of the Path Blazers, Foreman was the Affiliate Director of Efficiency Diet/Efficiency Chef with the Utah Jazz. In her almost decade-long profession, Foreman has additionally labored to direct a number of championship-winning NCAA soccer groups, together with the College of Alabama, the College of Georgia and eventually Clemson College, the place she served because the Govt Efficiency Chef for 5 seasons.
Jackson will function Chef de Delicacies and assist run the brand new Culinary Diet operation for the Path Blazers. A Detroit native and former instructor, Jackson has conquered cities like Atlanta and Memphis by a number of totally different culinary ventures. Julifs joins the Portland Path Blazers in her first season as Diet Logistics Coordinator. Julifs most just lately served as a Efficiency Diet Intern with the Cleveland Browns through the 2022-2023 season.
Mark Tyndale has been promoted to Assistant Coach after serving as a Participant Improvement Assistant for the earlier two seasons. Earlier than arriving in Portland, Tyndale entered the league as a participant growth coach with the Toronto Raptors.
The Path Blazers additionally added Pooh Jeter, Gilbert Abraham and Ryan Gomes as participant growth coaches. Along with his function on Billups’ employees, Jeter will function Assistant Normal Supervisor of Rip Metropolis Remix, Portland’s G League affiliate. Jeter performed the previous two seasons within the G League Ignite, averaging 7.4 factors (44.2% FG, 44.9% 3-PT, 92.9% FT), 1.6 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 17.3 minutes per sport in 28 video games for the Ignite through the 2022-2023 season. His enjoying profession additionally included a stint with the Sacramento Kings in 2010-2011, in addition to worldwide expertise in Spain, Israel, China, France, Turkey and Ukraine.
Abraham involves the Path Blazers after serving as an assistant coach for the Austin Spurs, the G League affiliate of the San Antonio Spurs, final season. Most just lately, he additionally served as Director of Efficiency for Tandem Sports activities and Leisure from 2021-2023. Gomes joins the Billups employees after serving as Head Coach of Time beyond regulation Elite through the 2021-2022 and 2022-23 seasons and as an assistant coach with the Lengthy Island Nets, the G league, through the 2016-2017 season. the Brooklyn Nets. Previous to teaching, the Waterbury, Connecticut native performed eight seasons within the NBA from 2005 to 2014 and in addition had transient worldwide stints in Spain and Germany.
Moreover, the Path Blazers have added Eli Kell-Abrams as lead video coordinator after spending the earlier two seasons as lead video coordinator for the Philadelphia 76ers. Previous to his time in Philadelphia, Kell-Abrams was an assistant video coordinator (2019-21) and video intern (2018-19) with the Miami Warmth.