The Jim Couch Foundation has operated in the state of NY since 1992 as not-for-profit corporation. Jim Couch started
his community service as Correction Officer. His passion though was basketball coaching and in 1956, in the Inwood section of Manhattan operating out of Dyckman Park, he started the Dyckman Basketball program. Mr. Couch's first pupil
was Lew Alcindor who became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Mr. Couch also started the "lights in the park" initiative as a crime prevention tactic in 1972. Dyckman Park received 4
flood lights that allowed the community to recreate in the summer months up until 12:00 am. The lights reduced crime
in the area and night basketball games became a family staple in the Dyckman Community.
This led to Mr. Couch being a part of television history! The Dyckman Basketball program became the first NYC
community-based program to be featured on Group W Cable TV in 1975 with Group W Cable (Warner Company) and
host a Rucker Memorial and Pro Rucker game on TV. Notable alumni of that era are Robert Wright (Associate HC,
George Washington, Texas A&M, TCU, and University of Texas), Steve Lappas (HC Villanova, UMASS), Patrick McGrath
(Senior VP of Chase Bank) and Carl Wilson (Delaware State and Jim Couch Foundation coach).
The program grew in the '80s and '90s as a citywide free training program. Mr. Couch's workouts took on legendary
status as the most difficult to get through in New York City, uniquely allowing students (girls and boys) of all playing
abilities to participate. Universities and colleges, through their CSR initiatives, donated gym space. The list includes
John Jay College, Fordham University, Fashion Institute of Technology, Baruch College, Columbia University, and
Manhattan College. Notable alumni are Craig Carter (Rutgers University), Al Morales (University of Puerto Rico, Steven
A. Smith (ESPN), and Omar Booth (West Virginia State University and co-founder of Dyckman Basketball Tournament).
Hundreds of young men and women were exposed to the college environment, many for the first time and the exposure
helped several at-risk young adults gain life-changing prep school and college scholarships by just being in the gym. Mr.
Couch had professional trainers as volunteers and mentors. Milton Lee, former GM of Long Island Nets (G-League),
Nate Archibald (NBA Top 75 Hall of Famer), Tony Campbell (NBA All-Star), and Evander Ford (NBA trainer) were a few
of the elite personnel that worked with our students free of charge. In 2001, the Jim Couch Foundation was the
founding sponsor of the Uptown Women's Basketball League, a Harlem, NY all women-led basketball tournament that
services approximately 200 young women during the summer months
In the 2000s, Mr. Couch's training legacy morphed into programming that a few of the city's major basketball institutions
use. Boys Club of New York City instituted its Mini Hoops Program (boys and girls 7-12 years of age) that was written by
Mr. Couch's son, Sean Couch (Columbia University, NBA draft choice). Nike NYC created the Chain Link Fundamentals
training program that Sean created in 2006. The program went worldwide in 2008. Then, in 2012 to honor his father's
free training legacy, Sean created the Jim Couch National Training Showcase that has been sponsored by Nike NYC
since 2016. The training showcase embodies the spirit of Mr. Couch's mantra of free professional training for young
players from all over the United States. Several elite HS, college and pro coaches have appeared as trainer like Bob
Hurley Jr., Milton Lee, Don Showalter, Ben Gamble, Ron Naclerio, Chad Babel, and Brian Merritt. The Foundation also provides basketball training, tournament play, and mentor programming for NYC's Saturday Night Lights Basketball
programming, an anti-gang violence initiative started by NYC District Attorney's Office.
Presently, the Jim Couch Foundation programming services and sponsors the Combinator Health and Wellness Project,
The JIm Couch National Training Showcase, the NYC Saturday Night Lights Basketball Program, The Uptown Challenge
Women's Summer League, Jim Couch DMV Basketball, Jim Couch College and Prep Placement and the Fay Couch
alumni scholarship and mentorship program.
Mr. Couch has received community service awards from the President of the United States as a Point of Light, the NY
Governor, NYC Mayor and the US Congress of New York State, inducted into the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame, Rucker Professionals Hall of Fame, and a Nike NYC Community Service Award.
