When you first enter the Abunassar Impact Basketball training facility in the Tarkanian Basketball Academy at the Stations Sports Complex, 2730 S. Rancho Road, it looks like a doctor's office and a health club have joined forces to challenge a full-size basketball court to a battle.
But there is no fight to be had here, just a lot of hard work and training for hardwood players willing to pay the price -- figuratively and literally -- to become the best basketball players they can possibly be, with the help of the best equipment and trainers around.
Opened on Aug. 7, the facility is home to the marriage of two big names that many professional athletes know about but few in the amateur ranks have even heard about -- AIB and Athletes' Performance.
Joe Abunassar, who was once director of basketball for IMG Academies -- the sports facility in Bradenton, Fla., that offers similar programs for dedicated athletes -- is the man behind the new facility.
"It's kind of an extension of (IMG basketball) now. It's me moving out, doing on the West Coast what we've done in Florida with some different things, some different tweaks, different partners," Abunassar said.
Abunassar, a former manager at Indiana University where he worked with Bobby Knight's teams, also served as a former assistant basketball coach at the University of Wyoming.
"I was a college coach and then when I was done, I wasn't even done," Abunassar said. "I was only 25. I had an opportunity to train some players and at that point, just me myself, I had some certifications in strength and conditioning, those types of things, so I became the guy that could fly in to wherever and do the basketball, do the strength, do the whole thing.
"Then when I moved down to Florida -- you can't do everything really well -- I started focusing in on the basketball stuff. But really my program, the basketball program with AIB, has everything to do with nutrition and performance because without that, the basketball isn't going to be as effective. We really wanted to revolutionize the way basketball players trained 10 years ago, and now by partnering with Athletes' Performance -- they're already regarded as the leader in all that other stuff -- it's perfect."
With an impressive client list of NBA stars such as Kevin Garnett, Baron Davis and Tayshaun Prince, as well as nine of the first 24 picks in this year's NBA draft, things are looking up for the new venture, which relies heavily on word-of-mouth advertising.
"That's where I've done (most of) my business from day one," Abunassar said. "We'll have too many next summer, I believe."
Abunassar said most players who sign up for his program just do it on their own.
"They make their own decision," he said. "Most of the teams support what we're doing, so when they tell their team this is where I'm going for the summer, they say, 'Great.' Some teams even pay for it. And I think over the next couple of years, more and more teams will (attend AIB) because guys want to be here and they're all working hard."
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