Former UWGB player Cordero Barkley pays it forward by coaching, mentoring in Purple Aces AAU program

GREEN BAY – As Cordero Barkley’s senior year was winding down with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay men’s basketball team in 2010, he had a decision to make.

He could put the business degree he ended up earning that spring to good use, or he could put it aside and get into coaching.

“I told (former UWGB coach Tod Kowalczyk) if something opens up, I’d like to have the opportunity to interview for it,” Barkley said in January 2010. “It’s not about the money. I would like to have a better life, but I would like to be able to mentor kids. I realized that there is nothing better than helping someone get an opportunity and helping someone get better.”

Talk about prophetic.

It’s difficult to decide what the Racine native has become more successful in during the 14 years since he said that, whether it’s his business endeavors or his role as a coach and mentor.

He is a partner with TitletownTech, a venture capital firm created out of partnership with the Green Bay Packers and Microsoft that builds and funds early-stage high-growth startups.

Barkley also joined the Purple Aces AAU girls program in 2012 as an assistant coach before becoming the program and development director in 2018.

He somehow finds the time to juggle both while raising a 2-year-old son with his wife, Erin (Templin) Barkley, the former Green Bay Southwest girls coach who was a two-year starter at UWGB while playing from 2005 to 2009.

Cordero Barkley serves as mentor to area athletes

Being a husband and father is, and always will be, his top priority. But of all the things he has accomplished in his professional life, his work with the Purple Aces is notable.

He has guided hundreds of kids for more than a decade, not only helping them achieve their goals in basketball but also showing compassion for them as people.

“Cordero was a great mentor and a huge part of my success throughout the years,” said De Pere senior guard Claire Bjorge, who will play at the University of Minnesota Duluth despite missing her entire junior season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. “When he heard the news that I tore my ACL, he immediately got in touch with a surgeon and was able to help get me into surgery as soon as possible.

“Throughout my entire recovery process, he always made sure to check up on me and see how everything was going. He cares about his athletes' success, and I am very grateful for everything he has done to help me achieve my dream of playing college basketball.”

Not every girl with the Purple Aces will earn a scholarship or play in college, but the numbers during Barkley’s tenure continue to grow.

More than a dozen players have committed to a DI college since 2019. The list includes the metro’s all-time leading girls scorer in former Southwest star Jaddan Simmons, who played four seasons at Arizona State and will spend her final campaign at Michigan State.

There are four players from the 2024 class who earned a DI scholarship, including the Green Bay Notre Dame duo of point guard Trista Fayta (Illinois State) and forward Gracie Grzesk (Wisconsin), Bay Port center Ellie McDermid (Bradley) and Janesville Craig guard-forward Mya Nicholson (Northern Iowa).

Bjorge is one of more than 15 players since Barkley took over as program director to sign with a DII team, while almost two dozen have committed to a DIII program.

“Cordero has had a tremendous impact on my development as a player,” said Grzesk, who won three WIAA Division 2 state titles during her career. “Through Purple Aces, my game has grown tremendously, a lot of it stemming from Cordero and the time he has put in to help me with my game.

“Even now being an alumni of the program, Cordero is a great mentor for me and someone I know I can go to any time.”

Barkley credits Aces coaches with helping program grow

Barkley always points out it’s not just him doing the work, although he does coach the 15U national team that has played in four tournaments since April and will participate in the Prep Girls Hoops tournament in Appleton from May 31 to June 2.

He goes down the list of all his coaches to thank like he’s reading an acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.

“We have had a lot of good people helping make the program work,” Barkley said. “Whether it’s (assistant director) Madi Heinke or our board of directors or our coaches. I obviously have a very passionate wife who also is passionate about basketball. Having a wife with a shared passion makes it all work.”

Barkley certainly has assembled an all-star coaching crew. The large group includes a trio of former UWGB players in Chandra Johnson-Francis, Jen Wellnitz and St. Norbert College coach Amanda Leonard-Perry. His wife serves as a program mentor.

The Purple Aces even had longtime Cleveland State coach Kate Peterson Abiad on the staff until she was hired as an assistant at UWGB earlier this month.

Barkley continues to pay it forward as coach, mentor

Barkley still remembers the people who stepped up to give him the opportunity for a better life while growing up. He often was at the George Bray Neighborhood Center in Racine while being coached and mentored by the late Al-Haj Jameel Ghuari.

He realized from an early age he wanted to pay it forward. He knew he wouldn’t be able to play forever, but coaching was the perfect way to stay in the game.

Barkley thought at one point it would be as a college coach — he was offered an assistant spot on a women’s team in the Mid-American Conference in 2014 — but he loved being able to work with whoever he wanted to work with and whenever he wanted in a way college rules don’t always allow.

The Aces split their program into two divisions.

The youth program is seventh grade and younger, which has a big focus on skill development and teaching players how to compete in both basketball and life.

It gets more serious for kids in eighth grade and high school, especially since players now sometimes receive offers in eighth grade the way Simmons, Grzesk and other Purple Aces did.

The level is more focused on girls who want to be on varsity in high school and play in college.

Barkley always has conversations with potential college recruits. He stresses picking a school that’s the right fit, and that might not always be the higher division.

A perfect example is Bjorge, who had offers from DI programs but picked a DII school.

“We talk about it all the time,” Barkley said. “It’s about the academics, the community and life after you get done playing in that program.”

Those three elements have served Barkley well in his own life. He once had to pick between playing at UWGB or UW-Milwaukee.

It turns out he made the right choice.

“The community really stepped up for Erin and I,” Barkley said. “We didn’t know that we’d be here this long. The opportunities were good. As we got into it and realized our network and realized the people in this community want to work with us, we decided it was important for us to stay here.”

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Cordero Barkley continues to coach, mentor after UWGB basketball days