Since founding Supreme Hoops together in 2016, Flushing residents Anthony Scifo and Anthony Rizzo have made it their mission to help aspiring basketball players develop and hone their skills. Scifo and Rizzo are passing their love of the game onto kids as young as kindergarten age to as old as professional players.
Both Scifo and Rizzo have loved the game of basketball for as long as they could remember. They even met each other at Holy Cross Basketball Camp when they were each 8 years old. Now, more than 20 years later, the two remain close friends.
“We’re just local kids trying to give back to the community,” Scifo said.
According to Scifo, Supreme Hoops now has five staff members who help provide training for their students.
“Each of them either [previously] trained with us or are from the Queens area,” Scifo said. “One of them spends each weekday working as a teacher before working with us in the [late afternoon or] night.”
Rizzo credits his experience working as a coach for DAC Sports’ youth basketball program for inspiring him and Scifo to establish Supreme Hoops.
“Their program was our concept feeder,” Rizzo said.
He also credited DAC Sports Program President and Director John Zullo for helping drive his desire to help youths. Rizzo worked for DAC Sports as a basketball coach when he was 19 years old.
Since being founded in 2016, Supreme Hoops has grown from working with two to four clients to over 250. Some of them are now playing or preparing to play in top basketball programs at universities or even professional leagues across the globe. Among these players are Hassan Diarra of Texas A&M, Bryant University commit Todd Rochelle, Will Lee of Palm Beach State and Baylee Steele of the Polish Basketball League.
Scifo and Rizzo are trying to make everyone working with and for their organization feel welcome.
“We want to make a nice family-like environment for the people who work for us and train with us,” Scifo said.
Perhaps some of the kids they’re training now could end up playing in the NBA someday.
