Anthony Blakley is the epitome of a journeyman. He's played everywhere from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Switzerland, Milwaukee to Venezuela, Los Angeles to France. He's been through the highs of being drafted into professional basketball and the lows of being released.

It is through these experiences that he found his true calling: training youths on how to reach professional status and how to avoid pitfalls once they get there.

He began this mission when he founded Hoops4Life Sports and Learning Center in Winder, Ga. In October, he brought his message to players at Hephzibah High School.

"After I retired, I had a conversation with the Lord and I asked him what was I supposed to be doing and he said: Hoops4Life. Because hoops were my life," Blakley said.

The Hoops4Life organization began in the Augusta area in conjunction with the Augusta's Ballers Youth Athletic Foundation. Mishlon Burns, the foundation's director, brought Blakley to the area after one of her players on the AUG Lady Ballers had trained with him at his facility in Winder. She had been impressed by Blakley's methods of training and his message.

"Working with someone that has the skill and background of Mr. Blakley is something that most could only dream of," Burns said.

Blakley, a native of Gulfport, Miss., moved to Georgia after Hurricane Katrina. He played at Mississippi State and Panhandle State from 1985-1989. He was not taken in the 1989 NBA Draft, but was brought in by the Milwaukee Bucks for tryouts. Blakley had some off-the-court issues that led then-Bucks head coach Del Harris to decide that Blakley was not the type of player he wanted on his team.

"This is part of my testimony of where I come from when I do my mentoring and when I do speaking about making the right decisions when your opportunity comes," Blakley said.

Blakley was drafted by the Cedar Rapids Silver Bullets of the Continental Basketball Association. From there he made a number of stops around the world, including an extended stay in Europe. It was there that Blakley found the basis for the way he would train young athletes in basketball.

"Europe has continued what we have stopped: teaching the fundamentals," Blakley said. "Now we just focus on who can run the fastest and jump the highest."

During the early stages of his training sessions, Blakley teaches all of his students to focus primarily on ball-handling.

"All kids to me right now are point guards," said Blakley, who played guard during his career. "I don't consider kids forwards in high school because they all need to know how to dribble and they all need to know how to be fundamentally sound."