A group of third graders from Oklahoma just made history on the national stage. The boys of GTA Basketball, a youth team formed just one year ago, were crowned Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) World Champions after a standout performance in Orlando, Florida. With local roots, a growing program, and even support from Thunder star Jalen Williams, the team’s story has inspired families across the state.

In this Q&A, News 9 sat down with GTA’s coach Jeff Terrell, program director Rick Jones, and players to talk about how the team came together, what it took to win a world title, and where they go from here.

What is the AAU?

Jones: “So it’s like the highest level of rules and refereeing, and the way that the structure is of the organization. It’s kind of the pinnacle for youth sports.”

How long has your team been playing?

Jones: “So they’ve been, we started about a year ago, and Jeff and I actually coached each other, against each other with a couple of our kids, and we were looking for a good youth basketball organization, and we kind of struggled to find some. They were either ultra competitive and not structured or structured and not competitive. So my wife and I started a charity. Jeff came on to oversee all basketball stuff, and that’s kind of how we started a year ago.”

What were the world championships like?

Terrell: “So the world championships took place in Orlando, Florida, at Disney, and it’s been awesome. It’s been a long journey. We’ve had a lot of ups and downs. Our kids have been resilient through it all. A lot of kids in our program, this is a testament to all their hard work every week and through practices, and through games. We’re super excited about the future of our program.”

What is it like seeing the players celebrate like this?

Jones: “I think they weren’t necessarily supposed to win. We just started a year ago. We’re local kids. We’re not pulling from out of state and doing all that like a lot of the other teams that we competed against were. So the really cool thing was is they didn’t know they were supposed to win. They believed that they could, and because of that, they just continued to go through and persevere. They stayed incredibly calm through a lot of adversity there for nine and 10-year-old kids, which I think as parents and as coaches, we were all the most proud of. It’s incredible.”

What was it like to get the Thunder’s Jalen Williams’ support?

Jones: “Really a testament to him as an individual to have the Even where with all to know that they’re there and you know to take the time after he’s had a great season and a great Run for the last three years to think about nine or ten year old kids to send a message to them About winning a championship and bring it at home I know really resonated with these guys really well and just a amazing opportunity and we’re thankful for him.”

Where do you go now that you’ve won the World Championship?

Terrell: “We’re gonna try to go repeat. I love it, so we’ll work really hard next year. We have more kids who are interested in joining our program, which we’re super excited about. And, you know, we start, you know, at a development level and we work all the way up and we have a couple eighth grade or eighth-grade teams and a girls’ team that we’re starting. So we’re excited about the future of our program.”

What’s your message to kids who might want to sign up?

Jones: “Just reach out on social media. We offer all ability levels for all of them, and we don’t know, you know, at nine and 10. We don’t know what these kids are gonna end up being at 14 or 18. So let’s have fun. Let’s play. Let’s work hard. Let’s get better every day and continue to do great in school and see where it leads.”

What kind of life lessons do kids learn along the way?

Terrell: “We look through our program like with report cards and stuff like that. We didn’t have one kid who was under a B. Most of our kids, I would say 99.9% of them, were A’s or higher. So I mean, we’re super excited with them. We also want them to act the right way. So we make sure if a player on the other team falls down, we’re helping them up, and we’re doing all the little things. We want them to be good adults and good, you know, in the community. So they’re all great kids, and we’re super excited about that.”