OUR COACHES

FALL 2023 COACHES

  • BriAnna Garza is the COO of Strata Athletics, a professional shooting coach, instructional designer, and owner of Shooters Shoot Training — a mentorship program that focuses on both shot development and thought development.

    BriAnna has worked with athletes of all levels, all over the world. She played high school basketball right down the road at Lehman High School, in Kyle, TX, where she led the region in both assists and 3-pointers made. She graduated in 2010 as All-State athlete and musician (as a percussionist).

    After high school, BriAnna went on to play college basketball on a full scholarship to the NAIA DI Baker University. After leading her team to an NAIA Sweet 16 her senior season, BriAnna was voted as conference Player of the Year (HAAC), and was named an All-American. BriAnna graduated in 2015 with a BA in Psychology and she still holds women’s basketball records for assists and career points at her Alma Mater.

    Following her undergraduate work, BriAnna made it her mission to learn everything she could about what it means to teach shooting effectively.

    She continued her education at the University of North Texas, where she served as a Sport Psychology consultant for the NCAA DI basketball teams on campus. In 2017, she graduated with a Master of Science in Sport and Performance Psychology, with an emphasis in Skill Acquisition.

    Never one to be idle, BriAnna went on to gain her Master of Education in Instructional Design and Human Performance Technology in 2020, while working as a Graduate Assistant at her Alma-mater, Baker University and developing as a skill development trainer with PGC Basketball.

    BriAnna now runs her own year-round training and mentorship program, Shooters Shoot, where she crosses holistic human development with expert shot training. BriAnna travels all around the country providing expert shot training to athletes of all skill levels, ranging from youth to WNBA and NBA players.

  • Jazmin (Jaz) Griffin was was born and raised in Austin, TX and graduated from Hendrickson High School in 2012 where she was a four-year All-Academic Varsity basketball player. Jaz spent most of her summers playing for the Pflugerville Titans and spent her last AAU season playing for Clarissa Davis with Team Xpress. She received her Bachelors degree in Kinesiology from Concordia University where she was also a part of the basketball team.

    After college, Jaz began her AAU coaching journey with Texas Elite and two summers later in 2018, she decided to join the military. While stationed in South Korea, Jaz was able to coach the men’s basketball team.
    Due to an injury, her time in the military was cut short and she returned to Austin.

    Shortly after getting settled back into civilian life, Jaz began coaching for a girls’ basketball organization called Competitive Edge, ran by Ashley Roberts.

    Jaz is currently a Production Engineering Supervisor for Tesla.

  • Jon Brodnax has served for several years in a player development role at the Texas Pro Academy (TPA), and most recently served as an assistant coach for the men’s program at Schreiner University, which competes at the NCAA Division III level.

    During his time at TPA, Coach Brodnax has assisted Zach Urbanus in the training of high school, collegiate and professional athletes. Prior to his time at TPA, Coach Brodnax worked as a trainer in the Central Texas area, coaching at the Premier Athletic Complex under Nelson Terroba, as well as working for Point Guard College (PGC Basketball) as a basket instructor.

    As a player, Coach Brodnax lettered at Austin High School and played AAU for Ray Jackson’s Rising Stars. While attending Texas State University, Coach Brodnax worked as a student manager/office intern under Head Coach Danny Kaspar. Coach Brodnax has also served as head coach and assistant coach for the THP Elite 17U teams.

    Coach Brodnax graduated from Texas State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Fitness Management. He is from Austin, Texas.

STRATA COACHING ALUMNI

  • Zatravius Hawkins, or Coach Z, started out playing football at Waxahachie high school at an All-State level before realizing his passion for the game of basketball and starting on varsity for 2 years. After also playing in several AAU circuits, he was able to earn a scholarship to the University of North Texas, where he unfortunately tore his MCL and decided to end his collegiate basketball career shortly thereafter.

    Zatravius then decided to serve in the United States Army for 8 years, where he earned many honors and accolades for service. His last duty station was Fort Hood, which brought him to the Austin area, where he finished school at the University of Texas with a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology.

    After graduating from UT, Zatravius explored coaching opportunities in the Austin area and is now the Head Coach at Valor Public Schools in South Austin for the middle school basketball team, while assisting the high school Varsity team. Zatravius is energetic and passionate about helping the youth grow in mind, body, and spirit on their way to achieving their dreams.

  • Big dreams, grit, and dedication to the game are what catapulted Cassie to the top of her game and helped her achieve her goals.

    But it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. As a high school athlete, Cassie endured times of enormous doubt and a lack of confidence that put her on quite the emotional roller coaster. But she didn’t let a little adversity get in her way.

    Cassie went on to play Division I college basketball at Central Michigan University, where she is still is 2nd all-time in school history for career 3PT makes (309). She then played professionally overseas for 4 years in Spain, Germany, and England while obtaining her Master's degree in Applied Positive Psychology and Coaching Psychology at University of East London.

    Cassie enjoys mentoring others and emphasizes the importance of balancing hard work with fun, and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable in basketball and life.

  • James picked up a basketball when he was 8. Since then, he has never looked back. “It has always been my passion, NBA or not I will continue to play and grow.”

    James played a year at Oklahoma Baptist University, an NAIA-DI school, and then went on to University of North Texas to pursue an Engineering degree.

    Now, James works in the tech industry as an Account Executive selling software, while looking for ways to coach, learn, and grow outside of work.

    James resides in Dallas Texas, and is motivated, excited , and passionate about teaching the game of basketball to the next generation!

  • Beth Mounier is no stranger to high-performance sports. From the blacktops of LA to packed stadiums across the country, she has spent the better part of the last two decades absorbing how to play, coach and lead with the guidance of many great mentors, most notably Tara and Heidi VanDerveer.

    Beth had a successful run as a collegiate player at UC San Diego, where she played from 2014-17 after playing 1 year at Weber State. Beth earned All-CCAA first-team honors as a senior, leader her team to a CCAA regular-season title. She earned a B.A. in Communications from UC San Diego in 2017.

    After serving as an intern for the Stanford University women’s basketball team, and then as an assistant coach for Portland State women’s basketball, Beth founded Mounshot Performance - a player development and leadership development company, with the vision of helping athletes and teams take their mental and physical prowess to new heights.

  • Aricka Adams, or Coach A, is an Austin native. She attended Round Rock High School, where she played 4 years of varsity basketball. Following graduation, Aricka was presented a full athletic scholarship to play basketball at Temple College.

    Although Aricka had aspirations to play Division I basketball, Temple was a great start. She knew that she would have to work extremely hard to get the right exposure in order to reach her ultimate goal. After obtaining her Associates Degree in General Studies at Temple, Aricka was offered another full athletic scholarship to attend Division I Incarnate Word University in San Antonio, Texas.

    Aricka ended her time at UIW with multiple accomplishments. In 2014-2015 she was named 1st Team Defensive Player of the Year & Academic Player All Conference. In 2016-2017, she was awarded Offensive Player of the Year.

    A few months after Aricka received her Bachelors Degree in Criminology in 2016, she started receiving emails from coaches interested in her playing for their professional club teams overseas.

    Aricka played 4 years in Europe (England, Poland, and Amsterdam). During her first season in England, her team won the Euro Cup in their respective division (2017). In one of the most memorable games of her life, Aricka scored a season high 38 points, had 10 assists, and 9 rebounds.

    Aricka was able to experience her dream, and she is committed to impacting youth athletes and young adults along their journeys so they can also live out theirs.

  • Natalie Novosel’s successful basketball career began at Lexington Catholic High School, where she was a 2-time Kentucky State Champion (2005, 2006), State Runner-Up (2004), and Miss Basketball Runner-Up (2008).

    She earned a full scholarship to University of Notre Dame, where she was a 2-time National Championship Runner-Up (2011, 2012). Natalie was a Gold Medal Winner with Team USA in Shenzhen, China in 2011, and selected 8th to the Washington Mystics in the 2012 WNBA Draft. She was a WNBL Champion with Townsville Fire in the Australian National League (2015-16).

    6 years of professional basketball and 3 ACL injuries later, Coach Novosel is retired from playing. Although largely focused on launching a new career in business in the financial education and services industry with her family, she always finds time to give back to the game that gave so much to her!

    Now residing in Austin, TX, Natalie gives Strata Athletics professional basketball and life experience, is passionate about player growth and advancement on court, as well as helping players develop a championship mindset and habits.

  • A San Antonio native, Leslie Vorpahl attended Winston Churchill High School (2013) where she received 2 back-to-back Player of the Year honors in San Antonio.

    She then went on to receive a full scholarship to Tulane University (2017), where she was awarded Most Improved Player in her conference, the Sportsmanship Award, All-Conference honorable mention team, as well as the Scholar Athlete of the American Athletic Conference.

    Blessed to continue her basketball career as a professional, she displayed her talents in Romania before suffering a torn ACL, which brought her back to Tulane, where she served as a Graduate Assistant Coach for the women’s basketball team whilst earning her Masters in Health and Wellness.

    Fortunate to continue her playing career post-injury, she went back to play in the top league in Germany. She played the last 2 years in Hungary, culminating a stint last season with the top leagues in Europe (Euroleague & Eurocup), the latter of which she played a pivotal role in winning gold in the prestigious Hungarian Cup!

    Leslie is currently playing professional basketball overseas in London, UK for the London Lions.

  • Earnesia Williams, also known as Coach Earnie or Coach E, is a speaker, Neubie Injury Specialist, and skilled teacher of basketball specializing in post/forward skills.

    For the past 10 years, she has been training youth athletes through skill development and coaching in Texas AAU programs. She uses an electro therapy device called the Neubie to find the origins of injury and is able to help speed up athletes’ recovery time and boost performance. She loves speaking to high school and collegiate athletic programs about how to become more self-aware of their talents and maximize them to compete at the next level of sport and real life.

    After graduating from the University of Texas, Earnie played professional basketball abroad for 7 years. She has competed in Portugal, Puerto Rico, Spain, Ecuador, Romania, France, China, Sweden, and Australia. She was Oklahoma's High School Player of the Year, Gatorade Player of the Year, a McDonald's All American, and a U18 USA team finalist. She was a 4-year starter and high school All-State finalist for both volleyball and basketball.

    Coach Earnie’s goal is to impact as many athletes as she can by helping them realize their super talents and use those to reach their goals and make their biggest dreams become reality!

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