Hartley boys basketball Q&A: Andreas James finds ‘calling’ as leader of Hawks

Basketball is an essential part of life for Andreas James, but his connection to the sport runs deeper than X’s and O’s.

A 1995 Independence graduate who went on to play and coach for Tiffin University, James has been involved with the Nova Village Athletic Club on Columbus’ east side since 2009 and currently serves as the director of training and program development.

On May 3, it was announced James also would be a head coach at the prep level for the first time, taking over the Hartley boys program after Randy Kortokrax had led it for 23 seasons.

James, who had been serving as an assistant under Kortokrax for two seasons, is excited about the opportunity to take the next step.

“It feels like a calling, being in an environment like Hartley where the faith element is there,” James said. “What I told the families is that I’m very thankful and appreciate (Kortokrax) for giving me the opportunity to be on his staff. He’s a fun guy to be around and for me, when I got hired, the first call I made leaving the parking lot was to Randy. I just have a lot of respect and appreciate the opportunity to work with him.”

In addition to his duties working with players and helping to organize functions with Nova Village’s AAU program, James is planning for a busy few weeks of summer basketball with the Hawks.

He knows that June, in particular, will be a crucial time in his new role after Hartley went 9-15 but had three freshmen in key roles last winter.

James recently spoke with ThisWeek about how his career progressed to this point and his hopes for the Hawks.

Question: What do you do with the Nova Village Athletic Club? 

Answer: I’m a director of training and program development for Nova Village. Most people think it’s all about AAU teams, but Calvin Booth, who just got promoted from (general manager) of the Denver Nuggets to president of basketball operations, started it with camps and skills training. Obviously we have AAU teams and we do a lot of leagues and tournaments. We’ve been doing that for 12 to 15 years. We've got (more than 30) boys (AAU) teams. We’re not trying to be the biggest, but it’s just whoever comes into our space and feels at home.

Q: What are some of your memories from playing basketball in the City League in the mid-1990s?

A: We won the City championship (56-55 over Brookhaven) in 1995. It was the first City championship in school history, so that was a really big deal for me and my friends. Dave Feyh was not only our coach, but he was our history teacher and was teaching us principles and accountability, so I learned a lot when I was in high school.

George Reese, who ended up playing at Ohio State and is still a good friend of mine and a coach in (Nova Village), was on that team, as was Kenny Gregory (who went on to play for Kansas). (Gregory) was a sophomore that year and he led us in scoring.

Q: How did your basketball career progress after you graduated from Independence? 

A: The most noteworthy thing is that I went to Tiffin as a walk-on and by the time I graduated, I had earned a scholarship and was an honorable mention All-American. I think I was the third one in school history. I say that just to say that as I was telling parents, my philosophy is kind of just about grinding and being gritty and kind of earning things, which is not always the case anymore in our culture. That time at Tiffin shaped me and made me realize you’ve got to really work hard at it and see what happens.

I had an opportunity to play overseas at a small level, but when (Tiffin) offered me the opportunity to be a graduate student and get my master’s, I thought that was a wiser decision. I coached what would be kind of like the version of a college (junior varsity) team (at Tiffin). My first year out of graduate school, the assistant left and I got offered the assistant job at Tiffin to be the top assistant. The very next year, our head coach leaves and that’s when I applied and became the head coach. I was only 24 going on 25 and I was the head coach for four years. My best year was my last year when we had our only winning season. At that time it was very difficult being a young coach, an inexperienced coach and a minority coach, but as time went on, I understood the networking and then I really started to grow and blossom.

Q: What other activities have you been involved in since you left Tiffin in 2006? And tell us about your family. 

A: I had coached (boys basketball) at Grace Christian Middle School for seven years and fortunately we were able to win our conference championship all seven years I was there. I also trained the Hartley girls basketball team (in 2019-20).

I’ve been married to my wife, Rashaun James, for 15 years. She’s an educator who has been serving in Columbus City Schools. We have a boy and a girl who are 9-year-old twins, Roman and Ainsley.

Q: What is your overall vision for the Hartley boys basketball program? 

A: I know a lot of the kids in the program and a pastor friend of mine and I were talking about (the position) when the job came open. I wanted to do a little bit more investigation, but I thought that if they’d give me this opportunity that I’d accept it. The most important thing is for the boys program to be an extension of what Bishop Hartley is and our belief statements of community, service and spirit.

For me, it’s not a cliché that I just want to win the day. I don’t make any promises to the administration or parents, but I tell them that our staple with Nova Village is just getting better and that’s what we’re hoping we can do here, grow boys and young men and compete and that our community, students and alumni continue to be happy to be a part of it. I’m taking over a legacy that has a long history of good basketball with good players and coaches and we’re hoping to possibly take that to the next level. My college background with AAU and at Grace Christian and my influence in the city and on the east side will hopefully be attractive to families.

julrey@thisweeknews.com 

@UlreyThisWeek

This article originally appeared on ThisWeek: James finds ‘calling’ as leader of Hartley boys basketball team