our president
Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992 to Shaunna Williams and Michael Isbell, Sr., Michael Isbell, Jr. grew up with two lifelong passions: basketball and people. Raised in the inner-city of Memphis on Vance and Peabody Avenue by his mother, grandmother, and aunt, he learned early the values of accountability, integrity, and hard work.
Michael’s love affair with basketball began at age four, when his uncle first put a ball in his hands. “Some of my earliest vivid memories involve ball,” Michael recalls. “I remember watching the 2000 NBA Western Conference Finals with my uncles and trying to mimic Kobe’s moves in the backyard at halftime.” From that moment, basketball became his first love.
If basketball was his first love, people were a close second. Michael’s mother, Shaunna, worked multiple jobs as a single parent, yet still treated everyone with warmth and kindness after 18-hour days. “That stuck with me,” Michael says. “It made me want to do the same. She’s the reason I believe in hard work, discipline, and being kind. She modeled that every single day.”
Michael attended Memphis University School, where he lettered in varsity basketball for three of his four years and captained the team as a senior. Also in his senior year, Michael served as Chairman of Community Service for Youth United Way. After graduating in 2011, he pursued his dream of NCAA Division I basketball, attending the University of Evansville as a walk-on. That same year, he became Chief Operating Officer of The Wolfpack Group, a nonprofit founded by a close friend, blending his two passions of basketball and service.
In 2016, Michael began his formal coaching and player development career in Knoxville, Tennessee. He served as Head Skills Trainer for the West Bearden Basketball League (WBBL) and Associate Head Coach for Webb School of Knoxville’s 8th Grade Boys’ Basketball Team. Under his leadership, Webb made two city tournament appearances. While coaching and training in the WBBL, Coach won multiple WBBL championships and developed more than a dozen NAIA and NCAA athletes.
Today, Michael serves as Head Basketball Coach for Cordova Middle Optional School Boys’ Club in Memphis, maintains his COO status with The Wolfpack Group, and also trains a roster of student-athletes weekly. Parents and players alike describe him as a coach whose passion is unmatched. In his own words:
“I care, man. Point blank, period. This is my passion. I want to see every kid succeed on and off the court at elite levels. I want to produce well-rounded individuals. I want my legacy, outside of my son, to be what I did for the sons and daughters of the city that made me.”
With over two decades of coaching, playing, training, and community leadership experience, Coach Mike brings an immeasurable drive and vision to Cats That Care. For him, this isn’t just work — it’s a calling.
It’s time to go to work.
