CLUB DIRECTORS
Jim Gulla: Coach Gulla is the Founder and Director of the South Jersey Jazz Basketball Club and The Basketball Development Group which are dedicated exclusively to the development of amateur student athletes. Jim was a standout guard at Burke Catholic H. S. and Sacred Heart CYO (18.5 ppg) in Orange County, New York. Jim credits his High School coach Joe Bayno and his CYO coach Charlie O’Brien for instilling in him great fundamental skills, knowledge of the game and discipline.
Coach Gulla has been coaching at the AAU level and teaching fundamental basketball skills to student athletes since 1993. His AAU teams have finished as high as 8th in the country. Coach Gulla’s teams have won numerous local and regional AAU, YBOA and AYBA Tournaments. Coach Gulla has also coached 2 state championships and 4 National qualifying Teams.
Before moving to South Jersey, Jim coached in Jersey City for the legendary AAU Program “The Jersey City Boy’s Club”. While there, he coached and worked with some of the highest rated players in the state such as: Dereck Caracter from St. Patrick’s (TCU and was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2010 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers), Corey Stokes from St. Benedict’s (Villanova), Shelton Gibbs from St. Anthony’s (Dominican Univ.) and Dereck Mercer from St. Anthony’s (American Univ.). Under Coach Gulla’s supervision and guidance in Southern New Jersey the South Jersey Jazz basketball club has been able to develop over 185 college basketball players.
Coach Gulla is a professional beverage sales manager who yearly managed over 2 Million cases of beverages, 2 major supermarkets, Sports Arenas, Liquor & Convenience Stores. Coach Gulla is now retired which allows him to dedicate all of his time to direct & manage the South Jersey Jazz and the Basketball Development Group. Coach Gulla Studied business at SUNY Orange.
Ed Bond: Has been coaching at the AAU level and teaching fundamental basketball skills to student athletes since 2001. Coach Bond has coached one YBOA Mid-Atlantic regional championship team and one YBOA national qualifying team. Many of his players were high school standouts and have gone on to play in college. Coach Bond is the Assistant Director and the Public Relations Director of The South Jersey Jazz Basketball Club and the Basketball Development Group. Coach Bond enjoys coaching, teaching and mentoring young student athletes to reach their full potential and become responsible, respectful and productive young adults.
Coach Bond holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Marketing from Glassboro State College (Rowan University) and has been a Store Director for Acme Markets for over 29 years. Coach Bond has retired from Acme Markets and is now currently self employed. He is the proud owner of Beer Baron Beverage Center in Northeast Philadelphia.
Chris Gulla Esq: Coach Chris Gulla is now entering his 15th year with the Basketball Development Group, 6 of which he has spent as the Director of Player Development and 9 as an Assistant Director. A former basketball letterman at Eastern Regional High School in Voorhees, NJ and at Wilkes University, Chris spent 5 years on the Rutgers University (Camden) men’s coaching staff from 2012 to 2016. In 2017-2018 he accepted a prominent coaching position at Jefferson-Philadelphia University to work under Naismith Hall of Fame Coach Herb MaGee. In 2019 Chris Gulla ESQ opened the Athletic Career Development Agency – ACDAgency.com and became a certified business agent. Currently Chris is licensed with WNBA, NBA and FIBA and represents professional Athletes throughout the world.
A four year letterman at Eastern, Chris ranked among the top 25 scorers in South Jersey (17.8 ppg) during his senior season, when he was selected as a member of the All-Olympic Conference Second Team and was chosen to participate in the prestigious Al Carino All-Star Game. Chris went on to play four seasons at Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA. He started 43 games at three different positions throughout his college tenure. Graduating in 2010 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration and a minor in Economics, Chris’ maintenance of a 3.80 GPA earned him four consecutive seasons on the Middle Atlantic Conference Academic Honor Roll.
In May of 2013, Chris graduated from Rutgers School of Law-Camden with a Juris Doctor degree. While at Rutgers, he served as the President of the Sports and Entertainment Law Society and founded the school’s First and Second Annual Sports Law Symposiums. Behind Chris’ leadership, Rutgers-Camden attracted numerous high profile speakers and quickly emerged as host of one of the country’s finest annual sports law discussions.
Gulla is an active member of the National Association for Athletics Compliance (NAAC) and the National Association of Athletic Development Directors (NAADD). Chris is licensed to practice law in both NJ & PA. He served a one-year term as Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Anthony M. Pugliese at the Superior Court of New Jersey and is currently a Partner at Murphy Sanchez Law Firm in Mt. Laurel, NJ.
Steve Horsley: Coach Horsley is the Assistant Director and Social Media Director for the South Jersey Jazz and the Basketball Development group. Coach Horsley is now entering his 21st year with the organization and has over 27 years of coaching experience. Steve has worked with players of all ages from 8 year old to college. He prides himself in developing talent and has a proven record of getting the most out of each athlete. Coach Horsley has served as the assistant varsity coach for the boys basketball team at Hammonton High School. He also has prior experience with the Hammonton freshman and Junior varsity programs, Folsom middle school program, Hammonton Bulldog travel basketball club and the Waterford Township Athletic Association.Coach Horsley is responsible for all of the clubs Social Media Platforms, Club Apparel Stores and Scheduling for all of the BDG Events & Tournaments. Coach Horsley holds a business degree from Morgan State University.