How The Bounce Academy got me my first under both.

I met Ambrose at The Dunk Camp in Dallas back in 2023.

Here’s the part that still makes me laugh: I had a broken knee. Six months out from breaking it, and I still flew to a dunk camp, because I’d already paid for it. So the whole time I’m around some of the best dunkers in the country and I can’t jump. Ambrose met me at maybe the worst possible moment to judge what kind of athlete I was. He had no idea.

We stayed loosely in touch. Nothing crazy, a message here and there over 2023 and 2024.

The turn

Then I saw him again at The Dunk Camp in 2025, and something clicked. Not about my jump. About my situation.

The program I was on at the time didn’t feel like it cared much whether I was there or not. I could text my coach and not hear back for two days. I wasn’t important to them, and I could feel it. Meanwhile Ambrose, who barely knew me, seemed more interested in what I had going on than the people I was actually paying.

That was the whole decision. It was an easy call. I asked if I could train with him, and I’ve been with him for over a year now.

What he actually does

He handles my programming, especially the lifting. But the real thing, the thing I’d tell anybody, is that he answers. I could call him right now and he’d pick up. After two years of waiting two days for a text back, that hit different. A coach who responds is worth more than a coach with a bigger name who leaves you on read.

And it works. At the 2026 Dunk Camp, I landed my first under both. That’s the one where the ball goes under both legs in the air before you finish it. I know for a fact I would never have gotten that dunk without him.

Why I wrote this

I’m not writing this because Ambrose asked me to. I’m writing it because I think people pick coaches backwards. They chase the biggest following or the flashiest highlight reel. I did that. What actually moved me forward was picking the person who was genuinely invested in me and picked up the phone.

If you’re trying to get better at anything, find your Ambrose. Not the biggest name. The one who answers.

Ambrose runs The Bounce Academy, and he’s one of the most connected vertical leap coaches in the game. If you’re chasing your first dunk, that’s where I’d point you.