Girls Tryouts 2024
Recent Players
Lexi Grant
High School:
First Baptist
- College: Appalachian State
- 1500 Plus Points
- 1st Team All Lowcountry
- All-State
- State Runner-up
- 2019-20 SCISA All Star
- 2 year SCISA 3A All-Region Honors
- First-Team All-Lowcountry
As a sophomore, she scored her 1000th point and she wrapped her high school career with over 1500 career points. Averaged 19.1 points per game, 4.8 assists per game, two steals per game and six rebounds per game.
Elise Pearson
High School:
Porter-Gaud School
- College: College of Charleston
- 2 Year Team MVP
- 3 Year All Region
- 1 Region Player of the Year
- Post and Courier Player of the Year
- Holds Porter-Gauds single game scoring record with 33 points
Made her first field goal attempt as a collegian. Followed that up with zero misses from the floor and freethrows until her Junior year. Earned a full scholarship in her Junior year.
Jaylen Slawson
High School:
Pinewood Prep
- College: Furman University
- Two Years All Region
- Two Years Pinewood Prep Basketball MVP
- 2021-Conference Defensive Player of the Year
- 2022-Conference Player of the Tear
- Twice made ESPN Top 10 Highlights for the Week
Leaving our mark!
Despite 24 years, two different name changes and coaching their own high schools for over 24 years, Antoine Saunders and John Pearson (JP) remain committed to oversee the top travel team in Charleston and one of the best in the region. Throughout the years, the program added girls (2016) and boys age groups and have been experiencing tremendous success. So far, there have been 26 girls who have earned basketball scholarships, and 146 boys who have earned basketball scholarships. In total, $13 million in scholarship awards have been earned by kids in the program.
“Our goal is to provide a solid basketball environment for athletes interested in furthering their careers in basketball. Occasionally we will have the football athlete who loves to play...we accept that as well. We will arrange for travel to elite events where we will play against top teams and players. We are committed to the development of our athletes and our program. We try to do this in a family atmosphere and we encourage and enjoy when our former players come back and share their experiences with the current players.”
Antoine Saunders
First Baptist Coach
Charleston Raptors Co Founder
The program utilizes the skills of 10 Charleston area Coaches (some are former players of Antoine and JP) and will have approximately 65 kids who will represent 25 Charleston area schools. The program has hosted two Alumni games which featured the likes of:
- Travis Smith (Porter-Gaud Mercer College/Professionally in Germany/Current Charleston Raptor Coach)
- Khris Middleton (Porter-Gaud/Texas A&M/Currently with the Milwaukee Bucks
- Aaron Nesmith (Porter-Gaud/Vanderbilt Univ./Currently with the Indiana Pacers
- Bruce Elington (Berkeley HS, Univ. South Carolina, San Francisco 49ers
- Jaylen Slawson (Pinewood Prep/Currently at Furman Univ.)
- Tre McClean (West Ashley HS/ East Tn State Univ./Currently Professional Basketball in Russia)
- Jake Lanford (Porter-Gaud/Currently at Yale)
- Edmond Robinson (St. John’s HS/Newberry College/Minnesota Vikings)
...and many more.
JP and Antoine also operate the Lowcountry Roundball which is an elite tournament that has been in existence for over two decades. This is additional exposure for the athletes in Charleston as Raptor players’ local high school teams often participate in it against very talented out of state teams.
In addition to this, Antoine and JP have organized and hosted showcase events that college coaches attend in order to evaluate the talent in the Charleston Area.
“We want to provide an experience for these boys and girls that they’ll never forget. We want them to come back when they have moved on from us to help the next young athlete. We show them the qualities they will need to excel with us and reach the next level...and they will be able to utilize the same qualities as they graduate and integrate themselves into the greater community.”
John Pearson
Porter-Gaud Coach
Charleston Raptors Co Founder
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Alumni Highlights
Khris Middleton
- Porter-Gaud High School
- All State
- NBA All-Star
- All-Lowcountry
- Reebok All-American and All-Star
- ESPNs #1 shooter in the country
- Top 150 Rivals
- Full scholarship to Texas A&M
- 39th overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft to Detroit Pistons
- Traded in 2013 to Milwaukee Bucks
Aaron Nesmith
- Porter-Gaud High School
- Three-time SCISA State Champion
- SC Gatorade Player of the Year
- Two-Time Lowcountry Player of the Year
- Three-time SCISA Player of the Year
- Chic-fil-A Most 3 Point Made in a Game
- SEC "Freshman of the Week"
- Full scholarship to Vanderbilt
- 14th overall Pick in 2020 draft to the Boston Celtics
Josiah-Jordan James
- Porter-Gaud High School
- Three-time SCISA State Champion
- McDonald's All-American
- Porter-Gaud's Single-Game Scoring Record with 45 Points
- Five-star Recruit by Rivals and ESPN
- SC Gatorade Player of the Year
- USA Basketball U18 Gold Medal Winner
- Full scholarship to Tennessee
Meet The Staff
Mission Statement
The Charleston Raptors is dedicated to position our players to reach the next level by playing a high level of competition, grounding our players with fundamental skills, and requiring major academic effort.