In grassroots basketball, few program names in the Baltimore area carry the recent résumé of Team Thrill.
The program has become nationally recognized through its boys teams, producing NBA talent, high-major recruits and championship-level teams on the Under Armour Association circuit. But there is another side of Team Thrill still writing its story.
The girls.
And while comparing the girls program directly to what Team Thrill has accomplished on the boys side would be unfair, the blueprint sitting beside them is difficult to ignore.
Team Thrill was founded and sponsored by Baltimore native and longtime NBA guard Will Barton, whose nickname — “The Thrill” — ultimately became the identity of the organization. Barton has described the program as a vehicle for creating opportunities for young athletes in his hometown, and over time it has expanded into an organization serving both boys and girls from the youth level through high school.
The mission has grown much larger than one basketball team.
But the boys have provided the most visible proof of what that mission can become.
The Standard Set by the Boys
Team Thrill's boys program has developed into one of the most recognizable programs in the Under Armour ecosystem.
At the 2022 UAA Finals, all three of Team Thrill's 15U, 16U and 17U teams reached their respective championship games. The 16U and 17U teams both won championships.
A year later, the dominance continued. During a 2023 UAA stop, Team Thrill's 15U, 16U and 17U teams were a combined 24-0, while its 16U and 17U teams captured event championships.
Those results helped establish Team Thrill as more than simply another Baltimore AAU organization. It became a legitimate national pipeline.
And two names represent that pipeline better than almost anyone:
Jarace Walker and Derik Queen.
Walker played his grassroots basketball with Team Thrill before becoming a McDonald's All-American, starring at the University of Houston and eventually becoming the No. 8 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
Queen followed another path from Baltimore through Team Thrill.
The 6-foot-10 big man became one of America's premier high school players at Montverde Academy while continuing to represent Team Thrill during the grassroots season. He helped lead Thrill to a UAA 17U spring championship, became a McDonald's All-American, returned home to play at Maryland and ultimately became the No. 13 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The significance of those stories now extends beyond simply saying they once wore a Team Thrill jersey.
The program's current youth structure includes teams carrying JWalk and DQ branding, references to Walker and Queen, creating a cycle in which players who came through the organization are now connected to the next generation coming behind them.
That is what sustainable grassroots basketball can look like.
Players enter the program.
They develop.
They reach college basketball.
Some reach the NBA.
And eventually their names and influence feed back into the same basketball community that helped develop them.
Now Comes the Girls Side
Team Thrill Girls doesn't have the same national history as the boys program — at least not yet.
Its story also developed differently.
The girls program has connections to the former DC Premier Girls operation, which eventually became part of Team Thrill. Coppin State assistant coach Tatyana McClaney's official biography specifically identifies her previous grassroots work as being with "Team Thrill, formerly DC Premier Girls."
That history matters because Team Thrill Girls wasn't simply created as a female version of an established boys brand.
It brought another piece of DMV girls basketball history underneath the Team Thrill umbrella.
Today, Team Thrill competes as one of the programs in the Girls Under Armour Association, putting its high-school teams into the same national recruiting ecosystem occupied by programs from across the country.
The GUAA structure features 15U, 16U and 17U competition followed by a national championship bracket at the UAA Finals.
For Team Thrill Girls, that platform represents opportunity.
The Results Show a Program Still Building
The 2026 season also illustrates the difference between where Team Thrill's boys program has been and where the girls program currently stands.
There have been promising moments.
Team Thrill's 15U girls recorded notable GUAA victories during the 2026 season, including wins over IGB, MBA, FBC United Reign, Bay State Jaguars and Northwest Blazers.
At the younger level, there are signs of another pipeline developing.
During the 2025-26 MADE Hoops East Winter Circuit, Team Thrill Jr. GUAA reached the championship game after beating programs including Loudoun Flexx, Dropoff Elite and Boo Williams. Thrill eventually fell to Exodus, 54-51, after briefly taking the lead late in the game.
Those results don't yet resemble the stretches when Team Thrill's boys teams were going 24-0 across three UAA age groups.
But that shouldn't necessarily be the expectation.
The more important question is whether Team Thrill can use the infrastructure, credibility and culture built through the boys program to create something equally sustainable for girls basketball.
There Is Already Talent in the Pipeline
Team Thrill's current girls player pool stretches across multiple graduating classes.
Prep Girls Hoops lists players from the classes of 2026 through 2029 within the organization, including prospects from schools throughout the DMV such as St. John's College, St. Frances Academy, Bishop Ireton and Good Counsel.
The program has also already been part of successful recruiting stories.
Former Team Thrill guard Gabby Kennerly played with the organization during a summer in which her college recruitment accelerated before she ultimately committed to Mount St. Mary's.
More recently, Team Thrill players have continued appearing in national and regional evaluations on the GUAA circuit.
That's important because grassroots success isn't measured exclusively by trophies.
For the girls side especially, the ultimate product is opportunity.
Can players develop?
Can they compete against national talent?
Can college coaches evaluate them?
Can the program help move them from youth basketball to high school basketball and eventually college basketball?
Those are the measurements that ultimately create a lasting program.
Baltimore Already Knows What Team Thrill Can Become
That's what makes the Team Thrill Girls story worth watching.
They don't have to look across the country for an example of what a successful grassroots pipeline looks like.
They can look across the gym.
The boys side has already shown what can happen when Baltimore talent, national competition, player development, sponsorship and long-term relationships come together.
Jarace Walker once represented Team Thrill.
Derik Queen once represented Team Thrill.
Today, their names are attached to teams developing younger Team Thrill players.
That is legacy.
The challenge now is creating the same kind of cycle on the girls side , not necessarily producing the female version of Jarace Walker or Derik Queen, but building a program where today's Team Thrill girls eventually become college players, professionals, coaches, trainers, sponsors and mentors for the girls coming behind them.
Girls grassroots basketball is expanding rapidly. Shoe circuits have become increasingly competitive. Recruiting visibility has grown, and organizations are fighting not only for elite players but also for long-term relevance.
Team Thrill already owns something extremely difficult to manufacture:
a recognizable name, an established grassroots infrastructure and proof that its system can produce players who reach basketball's highest levels.
The boys built that reputation.
The girls now have an opportunity to expand it.
Because the next chapter of Team Thrill may not simply be about producing another NBA Draft pick.
It may be about turning one of Baltimore's most successful boys grassroots brands into one of the DMV's most complete basketball programs boys and girls.
