Culture Conversation Hussein Abdullahi

Host Twingq sat down with Former Professional Athlete Shamar Coombs (@coombs33) to discuss his hoop dreams, growing up in Scarborough’s golden era of Basketball, navigating his space as a student-athlete + more. After an illustrious 6 year pro career that started in Kosovo, Coombs led his Columbia Basketball club to its first post-season championship series. Coombs also became a member of the 1000 PT Club, (one of the first international players) to receive that honour. In 2020, the entire sports world was impacted by the global pandemic of Covid-19. Coombs like thousands of athletes were forced to make a significant life decision with the uncertainty of starting a new path post-career. Coombs transitioned into a skills trainer and player development coach for upcoming youth and pros in Toronto. Coombs cultivated “SC TRN” through his newfound passion, which evolved into a Prep Academy “SC Academy”. The SC Prep Academy competes in the Premier Prep League in conjunction with the National Junior Circuit. Coombs played an intricate part in his hometown Scarborough Shooting Stars Championship run, serving as the player development Coach.



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Our host Twingq sat down with Professional Athlete + JBH Fresh’s Own Jaylen Babb-Harrison to discuss the evolution of the NCAA, 2023 March Madness, creating the JBH. Fresh brand, navigating a professional career as a business owner, and more. In this episode, they discuss the generational shift in the basketball culture while analyzing the evolution of the NCAA system. The NIL and Transfer portal has posed various challenges for eligible prospects. Jaylen shares insights on what opportunities lie with the advancement of the transfer portal.



JBH spoke on his basketball journey that dates back to the Scarborough YMCA, having a breakout post-grad year that secured him an NCAA Division I Scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University. Jaylen spoke on his memorable college experience playing against Coach Calipari's UK's Big 5 featured NBA Stars Devin Booker and Karl Anthony-Towns. Jaylen recalls living out his childhood dreams, as he suited up for Team Canada at the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup in Brazil.



The conversation shifted to the emerging trends in the NBA Culture (load management issues, ASG), and how the NBA can address glaring issues around fan engagement and the pro-player era. An interesting segment of the episode is when Jaylen explained how he balances entrepreneurship while being a professional athlete. JBH Fresh has emerged as a household name in the barber industry, servicing NBA clientele (Michael Porter Jr., Scottie Barnes, Ron Harper Jr., Gary Trent Jr., Earl Watson).

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In this episode, Our host Twingq was joined by the Founder of The Northway, Kayon Mayers. The Northway was created as a lifestyle brand that has evolved into a prominent media brand that highlights the Canadian basketball culture. Kayon once a standout basketball player reflects on his career competing against NBA talents such as Corey Joseph, Tristan Thompson and Dillion Brooks.   Now with the dawn of a new age, Canada has developed a pipeline of talents and Northway has capitalized on the influx of emerging prospects in the NCAA, U-Sports, and NBA. 

The conversation started off with Kayon sharing the origin story of the Northway. He also spoke on the importance of highlighting diverse Canadian stories for the basketball community. The media space continues to be populated by our counterparts and as minorities, it's our obligation to create a new majority.  

 The conversation then shifted to speak about the progression of the Canadian Elite Basketball League, season predictions, and the recent signings of J.Cole. An interesting segment of this episode is when Kayon spoke on the current shift within the new era of Canadian basketball, he shared some insights on the future generations and how the game continues to evolve. Kayon shared the holy grail list of top Canadian players, Coaches, and competitors.  Stay Connected to Culture Conversation 

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In this episode, Our host Twingq was joined by the CEO & Commissioner of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL), Mike Morreale. Commissioner Morreale is a no stranger to the sports world, the former CFL Grey Cup champion grew up hoping that one day his number would be called. The Hamilton native, had an illustrious 12-year career in the CFL playing for the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats. After retiring in 2007, Morreale began his career working in the front office for the CFLPA. In 2017, when the CEBL was officially launched, Morreale was named the CEO and Commissioner. In the 2019 inaugural season, the CEBL had 6 teams, today in 2022 they will have six teams play on opening night. Capitalizing off key partnerships, NBA G-league talents, and the affiliation with hip-hop icon J.Cole, the CEBL has launched into a new stratosphere.



This conversation started off with Commissioner Morreale speaking about the growth of the CEBL since its inaugural season in 2019, the importance of providing the community with homegrown talents across the nation. He also reflected on his cultural upbringing, growing up in a football family, and his divine connection to the sports landscape. Shifting into the Basketball world Morreale draws back to his old principles of hard work, creativity, and resourcefulness. Commissioner Morreale then spoke on J.Cole’s presence in the CEBL and how he changes the entire structure of their league from a marketing/advertisement standpoint.



The conversation then shifted to speak on building the brand of the CEBL, The highly anticipated Scarborough Shooting Stars franchise, and future expansion plans. The Canadian Elite Basketball League is looking to add 3-5 teams in the near future and with added pool of talent that shouldn’t take long. Commissioner Morreale openly expressed his beliefs on the potential spur of a women’s league. The CEBL season kicks off May 25th with a triple header; 3 games, Six teams, Our game!

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In this episode, Our host Twingq was joined by the Founder and Creative Designer of Overseas Fits, Kelvin Amayo. In the wake of the global pandemic that shut the entire world down, Kelvin Amayo cultivated an idea to create a platform where overseas basketball players to come together and share their unique experiences with the world. What started as an online media brand has elevated into a multiverse company specializing in Fashion, Storytelling, Content Development and Brand Events. The Overseas Fit Community has expanded globally to Asia, Africa, and Europe and has seen exponential growth throughout its media platforms.  The conversation started off with Kelvin sharing his origin story on the creation of Overseas Fits. He also spoke on the importance of amplifying authentic stories of the athletes that hardly ever get told. Overseas Fits is an avid supporter of the Women's Sports community and has empowered prominent WNBA athletes such as Natasha Cloud, Isabelle Harrison and Lexie Brown. 

 The Conversation then shifted to the current state of the Overseas Hoops during war-ridden turmoil out in Europe. Kelvin shared his thoughts on the Brittney Griner story in Russia, highlighting the importance of media platforms covering and spreading awareness of these stories. Kelvin shared his holy grail list of his top fashion designers/icons, All-time Overseas Fits Line-up, and fav go-to-outfit during the quick hitter's segment of the show.  

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In this episode, we sat down with Canadian creative Entrepreneur Alex  Eskandarkhah. The Toronto native has built a robust podcast show titled the Gifted Gab alongside his co-host Andre Kelly. Since its inception,  the Gifted Gab has created a space that amplifies BLACK VOICES,  highlighting the urban culture and personal development. The Gifted Gab has garnered the attention of some of the prolific media outlets across  Canada with guest appearances from Tychon Carter-Newman, DJ Shannon  Supreme, Kayla Grey + more. Aside from his unprecedented success, Alex has evolved into a multidisciplinary creative. Alex has taken a stab at  TV and Film, making an appearance on Guilty Party which views on the CBS  and Paramount TV Network.   Alex engaged in a thought-provoking conversation with our host @twingq.  

The conversation started with a brief story on the birth of the Gifted  Gab. Alex painted a vivid story on how important the idea was and the power of execution. Alex also mentioned how his podcast has opened a  multitude of different career opportunities and highlighted the work of the “Collective for Black Iranians” under the collective, Alex works alongside his community of Black Iranians to raise the awareness and conscious initiatives that promote the Iranian culture.   Alex then shared his story of leaving his hometown Toronto to escape his comfort zone and change his scenery. During that period Alex reflected openly on overcoming adversity while redefining a deeper sense of clarity.  He then met his business partner and co-host of the Gifted Gap and the rest was history.   

The conversation then shifted to shed a glaring light on building a  progressive career as a BLACK content creator, The current state of the  Internet, and our thoughts on the recent Kanye West Documentary that was released on Netflix.

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