Life is about opportunities.

And when you’re an athlete, you can pair exposure with that too.

So, when both come knocking, you better not miss it.

Former Liberty County basketball alum and NBA champion Jordan McRae is fusing both of those together to bring AAU basketball to the city of Hinesville with a club that will be known as the South Georgia Elite.

His former Panther teammate Rico Wigfall will be on board as the team’s head coach.

They will be holding tryouts in the spring for the summer circuit of AAU basketball.

Before becoming a pro, McRae was an all-state guard for Liberty County and a McDonalds All-American nominee in 2010.

Rivals.com ranked him as the No. 10 shooting guard and No. 38 player in the nation as a prep.

McRae played AAU ball for the South Georgia Kings and eventually the highly acclaimed Atlanta Celtics.

“We’ve envisioned this,” McRae said. “Rico has now been coaching AAU and rec in Hinesville for about ten years now. I played for the South Georgia Kings, a local AAU team in Hinesville. We did as much as we could. We came to Atlanta a lot. I got the opportunity to get seen by a team there and once I started playing in Atlanta was when my career went to the next level. I was ranked in the country and the college offers started to roll in. We chose ‘Elite’ because we want an elite group. I really want kids that are really trying to take their basketball to a new level. If this is what you’re doing because you want to get out the house for the summer and have something to do then I don’t think this team is for you. I want guys who are trying to go to college for free and possibly play pro.”

McRae who was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2014 out of Tennessee before winning an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016 wants to give back to his hometown and provide local hoopers the same chances that he had that ultimately led him to play on the highest level.

Now, the shooting guard plays in France for the Metropolitans 92.

“I’m 30 now,” McRae said. “I might have a good five or six years left. But you know once you get older you start finding what you’re really passionate about. And for me it’s trying to help where I’m from.”

But despite his success McRae is reluctant to coin himself as the greatest to come out of Hinesville – he just feels that he had the right connections in which he wants to bestow upon his South Georgia Elite team.

“One thing that I’ve always knew was that I never really was the best to come out of Hinesville,” McRae said of his legacy. “But I got an opportunity that every guy can’t get. So, for me to do this team was to create a space where we don’t have to come to Atlanta or go out of town to get an opportunity to get seen and get the looks that everybody else in these big areas get. What Davion (Mitchell) did this year for the city was huge. That’s what it’s all about. Somebody’s the first one to get drafted and then you got somebody who tops that. Hopefully we can get some more kids to duplicate that. The biggest thing we always talk about is that it’s a lot of people that can play football and basketball. And the fact that we have such a small group that’s made it to a career, it’s never been because of talent. It’s because of proper exposure. I know the right people and calls to make. I never like to be called the best and I’m sure Davion and Raekwon (McMillan) will tell you the same thing. We all had the proper exposure that other people didn’t have the access to. My parents never interfered with basketball at all. When the Atlanta Celtics asked me to play, I told my parents no because all my boys were in Hinesville. My parents made me go and turns out that’s the best thing that could happen to me because I went from an offer from Georgia and Georgia Tech into getting offers from every college in the country when I started playing for the Celtics.”

With the former NBA player being the spearhead, he’s utilized the connections he made from his time in Hinesville to the paths he’s crossed during his journey of becoming a pro as fellow athletes voluntarily donated to the Elite’s startup.

“There’s a lot of people out there that believe in what we’re doing,” McRae said. “I’m really good friends with Josh Richardson on the Boston Celtics. He donated to us. I was with Kyrie (Irving) for two years. We reached in his pocket. Raekwon McMillan and Richard LeCounte has donated as well.”

It’s not all about the performing on the court for McRae, he wants the Elite to have a top-notch experience of serving the community and take a glimpse into the dynamics of being a professional athlete.

“I really want my team to give back to the community as well,” McRae expressed. “When I was playing, we stood outside of Walmart for six, seven, eight hours and asked people to help us through our tournaments. I want my foundation and my team to do toy giveaways on Christmas, Thanksgiving drives, and host events. Last year we hosted a Spades tournament and this year we’ll host it again. Along with trying to teach them to be athletes on the court, we’re trying to teach them off the court as well because once you get to the NBA, college, and overseas these types of events are mandatory. These are the type of things that we don’t know. We never had no one to be on the level that some of us are on.”

The team will be all down south and on the west coast for basketball tournaments starting in March 2022.

“We’ll be all over,” McRae said about scheduling. “Atlanta, Raleigh, North Carolina, Virginia Beach, Florida, there’s a trip on here to Las Vegas. Something that was really important to me was I really wanted them to get an experience on an airplane. My first time was for the Atlanta Celtics. I want them to get a next level experience. Basketball has taken me all over the world. Without this I’m not sure if I would have the same opportunities.”

Tryouts will be opened to surrounding areas including Ludowici and Jesup and will take place on Feb. 19 for eighth graders and March 5 for sophomores at the St. James Sports Center in Midway.

“We named it South Georgia Elite because we want the whole South Georgia,” McRae said. “Ludowici, Wayne County, any of the surrounding areas that want to come. We’ll welcome everyone.”

To register for tryouts, click here.