Six years ago, Jae Taft drew a basketball gym on a piece of paper. She didn’t have a building, a lease or, she says, even a regular client. This year she held that paper up inside the real thing.
Taft is the owner and head skills trainer of Vision Basketball Academy in Denver, a training facility she built for girls. She filmed the whole process for her TikTok followers, from the first warehouse search to the grand opening on May 16, 2026.
Quick answer: Who is Coach Jae Taft?
Jae Taft is a Denver basketball trainer and the founder of Vision Basketball Academy, a girls basketball training facility at 1330 S Cherokee St that opened on May 16, 2026. A former college scholarship point guard who stands 5-foot-3, she has coached for more than seven years, and her academy says she has trained 1,000+ athletes and sent 30+ to college basketball. She shares workouts with 27,700 TikTok followers as @coachjaetaft.
Key takeaways
- Taft’s dream was the WNBA. At 5-foot-3, she earned a college scholarship at point guard instead, then turned to coaching.
- Six years ago she sketched her dream gym on a sheet of paper. She documented building it on TikTok, starting with “Day 1” on Feb. 2, 2026.
- Vision Basketball Academy opened on May 16, 2026, in Denver as a training home built specifically for girls.
- Her programs include private and group training, camps, and the Point Guard Blueprint mentorship for girls point guards ages 12 to 18.
- Her approach is faith-centered and focused on confidence, leadership and game-like training, not just drills.
Who is Coach Jae Taft?
Taft is a basketball development coach who has spent more than seven years training female players at every level, from youth to college. According to Vision Basketball Academy, she has coached through camps, one-on-one training, high school programs and club teams, has trained more than 1,000 athletes, and has helped more than 30 of them go on to play college basketball.
She was a point guard herself, and a small one. Her academy describes her as a 5-foot-3 guard who “earned a college scholarship by being the most trusted player on the floor.” In her own words, from the academy’s Point Guard Blueprint page: “I wasn’t the biggest point guard on the floor. I learned to see it early, talk first, and make everyone else better.”
From WNBA dream to coaching calling
Taft has been open about the dream she had to let go. In a March 2026 video, she described being 14 and “mentally drafted” to the WNBA, then realizing she wasn’t going to grow past 5-foot-3.
“I tried all the methods. I tried to stretch, I tried to pray a little bit harder. I even kept checking the growth chart like something would change.”
What she found instead, she says, was a calling to pass on what she learned as a player. “I wasn’t just called to play the game,” she says. “I was also called to steward my basketball knowledge and everything I learned from being a player.”
How she built Vision Basketball Academy
On Feb. 2, 2026, Taft posted “Day 1” of what she called “the journey of building a basketball training facility built for women.” She laid out the plan in that first video: basketball skill work, plus sports performance, mindset development, physical therapy, recovery and a relaxed place for athletes to do homework. “Men, I love you,” she said, “but it’s our turn to have something for us.”
Followers watched her tour warehouses, choose a space, lay the court and count down the days. The grand opening was May 16, 2026, at 1330 S Cherokee St in Denver.
In October, she held up the original sketch inside the finished gym. “I had no idea how to make it happen,” she said. “I just knew that I loved basketball. I loved coaching.” She also knew she wanted to create something different for girls in the game. She says she signed the lease about six months before that video, after years of “knocking on doors,” “plane rides” and “moving multiple states.”
What training at Vision Basketball Academy looks like
The academy offers private sessions, group sessions, and camps and clinics through the year. Its philosophy is fundamentals first, ball handling, shooting, finishing, passing and defense, then training that looks like real games. “Our sessions are designed to translate directly to real game situations, not just to look good in drills,” the academy’s site says.
Her own content shows how that works. In a January 2026 video she walks through a five-step shooting progression: backboard touch shots, form shots, dribble pickups, catch-and-shoot with game footwork, and shots off a dribble move.
A June 2026 “day in the life” video shows a full schedule: individual sessions, a college players’ session, more one-on-ones and two group sessions to close the day. She also mentions a chiropractor visit for “lingering things from college basketball,” because, as she puts it, “I want to stay in this job for a long time.”
What is the Point Guard Blueprint?
Taft’s newest program is built for players at her old position. The Point Guard Blueprint is a six-week mentorship for girls point guards ages 12 to 18, followed by 10.5 months of lessons and community support. It isn’t about more ball-handling drills. It’s aimed at players who “go quiet, lose confidence after mistakes, or haven’t yet learned how to run a team.”
The six weeks cover leadership, communication, confidence, decision-making and how a point guard responds after mistakes, with direct feedback from Taft between sessions. Spots are limited, and Taft talks with each family before sharing the price. When she announced the first group in October 2026, she said only three athletes would get in.
Why she trains girls
Taft’s work is about more than basketball skills, and she says so plainly. Her academy describes its approach as faith-centered, with “strong female leadership,” and her TikTok bio reads “Purpose Filled.” In her posts she talks about keeping girls in sports and giving them a place to grow their confidence.
“This facility is so much bigger than just developing basketball players that get Division 1 scholarships and go to the WNBA,” she said in March. “This facility is to bring out the vision and the calling over these young girls’ lives.”
What’s next for Coach Jae Taft?
For now, it’s filling the gym she drew six years ago and launching the first Point Guard Blueprint group. She says the facility feels like a beginning, not a finish line: “With opening a facility and having a physical space, now the dreams actually feel limitless.”
Denver-area families can schedule a trial session through visionbasketballacademy.org. You can follow her on TikTok at @coachjaetaft, on YouTube at @jaetaft, and on Instagram at @visionbasketballacademy.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Coach Jae Taft?
Jae Taft is a basketball development coach in Denver, Colorado, and the owner and head skills trainer of Vision Basketball Academy, a training facility built for girls. A former college scholarship point guard who stands 5-foot-3, she has more than seven years of coaching experience and posts training content on TikTok as @coachjaetaft.
Where is Vision Basketball Academy?
Vision Basketball Academy is at 1330 S Cherokee St, Denver, CO 80223. The facility held its grand opening on May 16, 2026.
What programs does Vision Basketball Academy offer?
Private one-on-one training, group sessions, seasonal camps and clinics, and the Point Guard Blueprint, a six-week mentorship for girls point guards ages 12 to 18. Families can schedule a trial session through visionbasketballacademy.org.
What is the Point Guard Blueprint?
It’s Coach Jae Taft’s mentorship program for serious girls point guards ages 12 to 18: six weeks of personal coaching on leadership, communication, confidence and decision-making, followed by 10.5 months of ongoing lessons and community support. Taft talks with each family first and shares pricing directly.
Did Jae Taft play college basketball?
Yes. Her academy says she played college basketball and earned a scholarship as a 5-foot-3 point guard. She has said her childhood dream was the WNBA before she realized she wouldn’t grow past 5-foot-3.
How many athletes has Coach Jae Taft trained?
Vision Basketball Academy says she has trained more than 1,000 athletes and helped more than 30 go on to play college basketball.
Sources and media credits
- Background, programs and training numbers: Vision Basketball Academy, About and Point Guard Blueprint pages (checked October 31, 2026). Training numbers are the academy’s own figures.
- Quotes are from Coach Jae Taft’s own TikTok videos, embedded above.
- All photos are frames from Coach Jae Taft’s TikTok, @coachjaetaft. Videos are embedded with TikTok’s official player.