The Team Behind The Teams
Samantha Stukes
Founder, SWDH & Bonafide Basketball
Samantha is an Allen County Community College, class of 2009, alumni. She holds All-American Academic honors from ACC, and is also the place where she would leave engaged to Timothy Stukes. Since then, Timothy(TJ) and Samantha have become proud parents of their two children Amar’e and Alana. In that time, Samantha founded Bonafide Basketball in 2011, which has now blossomed and provided new opportunities for her and the El Paso community. She has a Bachelors degree in Business/Accounting and over a decade of coaching experience. Samantha has won 12 NCAA-Certified Event Championships at the Open-Elite Divisions, and continues to mentor, develop and train student-athletes toward their “next-level” so they can compete and dominate when they get there. Since 2014, Samantha has delivered over 65 student-athletes to college programs by means of safe, exclusive, and competitive exposure. These athletes have had the opportunity to sign college scholarships by combining their academic excellence with their athletic abilities. In 2019, she was featured as People’s Magazine “Thank You Coach” campaign recipient. That same year the Southwest Desert Hoops Organization was born.
Tim Long
President of Operations
At the right hand of Samantha Stukes is Tim Long who is in his second year with the Desert Hoops as the President of Operations. He has a hand in everything from talent acquisitions to day-to-day business operations. Tim brings over 23 years of military experience serving as Platoon SGT, 1ST SGT and Senior Evaluator of personnel, along with 8 years of experience as Treasurer, Operations Director, and Coach in AAU basketball. He is currently serving for the Department of Defense as the Operations Chief of Foreign Military Sale (Japan). His studies were in Business Management at the University of Florida where he also played Division I baseball for the Gators.
Brian Guinn ("BG")
Vice President of Basketball Operations
Brian has been around the game of basketball since the age of three. Whether Brian was a player, coach, or trainer, he always delivers insight to the game of basketball. He was the Assistant Coach to the Fort Bliss Basketball Team where they went on to win a conference championship. Brian has 18 years of military experience with the Army and aims to use his expertise to think “outside of the box”, and steer the Southwest Desert Hoops into a bright future. Brian would like to close his bio in saying, “I admire the work of our staff in hopes of helping young men and women pursue their dream of playing professional basketball”.
Timothy Stukes ("TJ")
Basketball Operations Chief Advisor
Timothy(TJ) brings decades of experience playing professional basketball. Most of his time playing professionally was with the Harlem Wizards. Before professional basketball, TJ played at Pittsburg State, Kansas(KS), and Independence Community College(ICC). During his career, he has received recognition for being an All-American, Defensive Player of the Year, and winning multiple championships. In his sophomore year of college, TJ proposed to his now wife and proud owner of the Southwest Desert Hoops, Samantha Stukes. Since then, TJ has enjoyed a successful basketball career and retired professionally from the game of basketball in 2020. When asked how he could contribute to the organization, he adds “I would like to provide insight to any experiences, good and bad, unbiased opinions and knowledge, and one on one mentorship to the Southwest Desert Hoops.” The Southwest Desert Hoops would like to welcome TJ and also congratulate him being inducted into the Hall of Fame at ICC!
Shavanna Jackson
Head Coach, Men’s Basketball
Coach Jackson has been around basketball for the better part of her life and has found that using it as a tool to improve her players’ lives and as a stepping stone in their careers brings her great pride and purpose. Calling El Paso, TX home to her and her daughters, she is excited to lead this type of program here locally. Jackson served in the U.S. Army for 6.5 years and lent her basketball knowledge to the men’s basketball programs at the bases she was stationed at overseas and won a European championship with Vicenza High in 2010. After returning state bound Jackson assisted at her alma mater Andress HS and Nolan Richardson. In the 2021-2022 ABA season, Jackson served as SWDC interim Head Coach under Jesus Aragon and helped lead the Cats to the Final 4 of the PacSouth Division, ABA. This season Coach is looking to accomplish some big things with a young, revamped squad.