You know, it's the unexpected connections on Twitter that can make a huge impact on one's life on a personal level. When someone new replies to a tweet of mine, I try to immediately check out their profile...admittedly, I don't do that as often as I'd like.

But when @jdbasketball on Twitter cheered on the Terps with me, I did that time. And what I found out about him, led me to approaching JD about letting me interview him on this blog. Obviously, since I'm writing this, he said yes...and well...while this post is long I hope you learn as much as I did from someone who has been able to marry what they are passionate about with a commitment to change make a positive change in the world.  Here's our interview.

How did your basketball coaching go from New York to all the way around the world?

That is a long story. . .  In brief, I always wanted to find a career that would allow me to follow my passions. Obviously, I loved basketball and wanted to travel; as I matured  what has become most evident is my interest in humanity.  By design, I used my business to interconnect the three.

In 1998 ( after graduating from Maryland in ’96 playing short semi pro stint in Irealnd and a year on Wall Street), I started the JD Walsh basketball school to teach local Long Island and NYC youth basketball skills. In time the program grew to operating year round in ten  locations stemming from Upper East Side of Manhattan out east to Southampton culminating in summer. I enjoyed the work, and it provided me a nice base while developing relationships overseas.

Growing up I learned more about life on a basketball court than I had in a classroom. I assumed other kids must be feeling the same way. From that thought came the idea using the game in a bigger way. Deciding to find creative ways to educate youth about life we started adding social education to my local NYC camps.  Small success allowed our imagination to start to think about scaling in program size, scope and abilities In the beginning, many of the social projects I did with NGO’s or US Department of State I completed for little to no stipend, usually just basic expenses – but they gave my soul a satisfaction that money could not buy.

Over the years, I had developed a good reputation of coaching and working with players (I was a high school coach for 7 years in Roslyn HS NY and St. John the Baptist  HS, NY and have trained with NBA/ WNBA, college and HS players).  From this, Professional clubs and National teams from various parts of the world would hire me to visit and train their teams and players. Each trip I would look to complete one social project as it allowed me to give back and receive a better understating about the communities I was serving. Visiting Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel provided me the opportunity to integrate into existing programs such as Sulha in Israel, or in Doha Qatar for the Qatar Basketball (and late with the US Dept. of State in Doha). These experiences helped to shape my worldview. Since inception, we have had over 16k participants in eight countries in 3 continents around the world.
Coaching basketball in Kashmir

I should add that in 2001 I started a company with three partners called Sino-American Sports – we had a long term agreement with the Chinese Government managing basketball in China (Chinese basketball Association aka CBA) to promote cross cultural friendship and understanding between the US and China. I later formed a company with Mr. Dominic Chang called China- America Friendship tours which took basketball tour teams to tour northern China for the sports commission and oil companies in Heilongjiang Province.  It was a great experience that took me back and forth to China for over 5 years co-operating in events, games, camps, and promotions in over 15 cities in China. My previous experience and seeing the poverty and learning the different Asian ways truly set me up for what I have been doing the last three and a half years in India.

This YouTube video is a good account of what we are doing.






Surely, because there are wars being fought over religion, it has to be a little bit intimidating bring people from war-torn areas together for the camaraderie and the love of basketball.  How did you initially overcome that fear?

Clearly, sport (as music and art)  is a great tool to bring people together. I believe human beings have more in common then our different interpretations. Growing up in Long Island, and spending a lot of my childhood in and around NYC I was fortunate enough to witness diversity. It was easy to see the opportunity thru basketball to connect on common ground.

handing out awards to youth in Bombay, Bollywood star Neetu Chandra looks on
Our motto at jdbasketball is ‘dialogue for mankind’, I realized early on that I possessed a niche and innate gift for using basketball as a way to communicate.  My life travels and personality allow me to relate quite easily to people all over the world regardless of language, religion or skin color and this has set me up for many unexpected events.


I would not say I have overcome fear in conflict areas. I am always taking very special precautions making sure the security is tight before traveling to a specific region.  

Do you keep in touch with the people that you meet?  And if so, how?

The best part of my business is being able to stay connected  and maintain relationships throughout the world. Our new website (launch date on/about Feb 1) will allow us to extend that community beyond 1 to 1. Our face book fan pages are JD Basketball India  and  JD Basketball for World Peace. Twitter has also become a great way for folks to stay in touch,  I am @jdbasketball.


What has been the most unexpected experience for you in this journey thus far?

One of the most interesting groups I worked with were young Muslim women in South India.  They came to me thru a US Department of State English Access program. Krishna, from the American Consulat mentioned they would be a special group- and boy was she right! I walked into the stadium in Tamil Nadu to find about 25 girls dressed in full dupta (head to toe).  They did not speak English and, I was told,   had never met an American male before. Few women are afforded the opportunity to play sports in this region, and even less have decent coaching. Although the program started slow, teaching the lines and rules, passing and catching – by the end of the program the young ladies were dribbling and shooting but most importantly they communicating and having fun! As a social educator, that was an indescribable high for me.  The result and impact of that day was a court being built in their school for the girls. That was totally unexpected, to me that’s social change!
with kids in Calcutta
Recently the US Ambassador to India, Timothy J. Roemer came to our program in New Delhi. After bringing the eighty or so participants together said, ‘ the biggest stamp of approval I can put on JD’s camp is that I paid  to send three of my own kids there” – this was quite humbling and very unexpected as I never realized his kids had been to one of my camps.

Is there any single person that has made the biggest impact on you?

I am fortunate to have supportive parents who raised my sisters and I to have an empathetic view for the less fortunate. My mom was an abstract artist, and my dad, a HS English teacher and basketball coach – this combination fostered creativity and taught us to go for our dreams. This home attitude certainly provided me a solidly built foundation; I haven taken this lifescope everywhere I've been.

When I was a kid I used to wake up at 5am and watch Biography, the show I now believe is on A& E.  I can remember vividly watching Ghandi, JFK , Al Smith (NYC governor), and Teddy Roosevelt and feeling inspired by them to do something positive in the world.

I have also been inspired by a group of folks: Mr. Michael Owen (head of  India desk US Department of State), Mr. Richard Armitage (Former Under Secretary of State for Colin Powell) and Matthew Spacey (founder of Magicbus.org) have all directly/ indirectly had impact on me and what I do.

How can someone get involved and support what JD Basketball is doing?

We are aggregating a list of potential volunteers for our social education projects now, please email us jd at jdbasketball dot com . We could always use some grant writers willing to donate time to promote projects and file for potential projects as well. A big help is folks in social media who are willing to link to us/ Twitter about us  or help to tell our story in any way- this creates awareness and develops interest and allows us makes productive offline relationships.

What is your one wish for people around the world?

To end wars! World peace.  As earth keepers I feel people of all nations should look at the planet as a whole and protect it for future generations. I think that if everyone would use their special talents to make their own community better the world would be a much better place.


When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grow up?

Like most kids I had always dreamed of being a rock star or NBA star or coach. Since I had no musical inclination, a bad back, and creative imagination my more realistic dream was to be an entrepreneur and international businessman. In a way, I guess this is what I have become.


What do you have planned, travel-wise, this year so far?

Most of my focus the next three quarters will be in India. I do some scouting for a team in Euroleague, so most likely they’re will take a few side trips to see some players, but basically I like to continue (my last 3 years work) growing the game throughout India.
I am completing a US Department of State Sports Initiative grant with George Mason University  (with Dr. Bob Baker and Craig Esherick –former Georgetown Head Coach) that will include two more in- country India tours and a selection and travel of 10 Indian coaches to George Mason for coaches training in July. I am planning a return visit the Chinar.org kids in Kashmir and make my annual trip to Sulha.com in Israel. I am excited to be working on a project to build two basketball courts and develop a trust to promote sports in computer tech education in Dhavari (the poorest slums in Asia) with  Ramom Magsaysay Award (Asia’s equivalent of the Nobel prize) winner Jockin Arputhum. We are currently at the fund raising stages and hoping to solidify real soon.


You call New York home, but where do you spend most of your time?

Depends, but these days…Mumbai, India.

I see in your bio that you played for University of Maryland.  You know that's my alma mater, right?  Tell me about your favorite memory as a Terp.

Let’s go Maryland! ! !   As far as my basketball career went, I had some real ups and downs in College Park.

I will say, besides the friendships made, one of my best memories I have was beating North Carolina at home my freshman year. They were one of the tops in the nation at the time.  I had played well and under a 102 degree fever. After the game,  the crowd rushed the floor –it was awesome!  I remember walking down Knox road to Bentleys and everyone coming out of their South Hill dorms and local eateries outside to clap and congratulate us. 

I would like to reconnect and do some projects with UMd students and faculty.


Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Too far away to think about for me, I am trying to live in the here and now. Besides some personal goals but I am striving towards leaving a legacy on world peace thru sports, most of my goals are to  continue growing the game of basketball in India.


Thank you so very very much for what you do...so many times you hear people say "be the change" but you my friend, do more than say it...you live it!

Funny, I am wearing a blue shirt that says ‘be the change’ shirt right now that I have from the inauguration…

Thank you  Jessica for letting me share my story with you and your readers. If anyone would like to connect with me please find me on Twitter or jd at jdbasketball dot com.