Wesley Branch/The Clayton Tribune. Rabun Gap senior RJ Lacossade concentrates on cutting Rabun Gap boys assistant basketball coach Darrick Cureton’s hair on Jan. 12 in the Rabun Gap locker room. For many years, Lacossade has been cutting hair, including cutting his own hair and other students at RGNS. Much like the game of basketball, Lacossade has continued to get better with his talents.
RJ Lacossade left his home in Turks and Caicos at the age of 14 to pursue a higher level of basketball. Just over three years and more than 1,000 points later, he is still chasing his dream and striving to make his family, and country proud.
“I said to my mom, ‘Just get me out of Turks’ because I wanted to have a basketball career,” Lacossade said. “So I said, ‘Just get me out of Turks. Anywhere, I don’t care where I go. I know I’ll be fine.’”
With the help of Lacossade’s agent, Ciaran O’Neill, “anywhere” turned into The Vanguard School, a boarding school in Lake Wales, Fla. Lacossade’s parents Linda – who also goes by Julina – and Roldson sent their oldest son to the U.S. in blind faith.
Lacossade – whose first name is Roldjudson, a combination of his father’s name and mother’s nickname – said his parents did not tour or visit The Vanguard School. They have also never been to the U.S.
Lacossade only knew his new head coach, Elmo Stephens, and two of his teammates, Rashun Williams and Jen Zzy, who were friends of his from Turks and Caicos.
The now 18-year-old senior at Rabun Gap was forced to mature very quickly and at a young age. It took Lacossade an entire year to get fully comfortable living in the U.S. on his own, building his own day-to-day routine and staying disciplined in it.
An important part of that routine for him was finding time to pray, something he, his three siblings and parents did each night back home before they went to sleep. While at school, Lacossade would get on his knees and pray every morning and night.
Lacossade prayed over several things – guidance while on his own, his family back home, his basketball career and financial stability.
Lacossade’s family does not come from much, living in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos, the most populated island and where tourists typically fly-in for vacations or to visit.
“It’s a gold mine. Yes, when you get there, you see the beautiful blue beaches, white sand, everything is nice, warm weather. But that’s just one side of the story,” Lacossade said of what it’s like to live in Turks and Caicos. “Coming from a kid who did not have much growing up on the island, on the other side of the island, it’s less than what you would see on TV.”
His mother worked two jobs, six days a week while his father was briefly unemployed, and found jobs on the side for the time being to help support the family. There were days where the family was unable to fill up its water jug in their home.
Lacossade’s family also had just one vehicle, which was often used by his mother or father who was at work. Lacossade resorted to jitney, an informal taxi service, so that he could get around the island.
In Providenciales, he and others would stand on the side of the road and wait for a car to honk to see if they needed a ride. It was then up to the driver – who charged anywhere from three to six dollars depending on the distance – to determine if they would take those in need of transportation to their destination.
When Lacossade was enrolled at The Vanguard School, residential and academic tuition ranged between $50,000 to $60,000 per year, he said, before any tailored tuition plan for students in need of financial assistance. That amount was three times more than what his family paid for school in Turks and Caicos.
According to the school’s tuition and fee schedule for the 2025-26 school year, 7-Day residential and academic tuition costs $58,493.00.
With his family’s financial situation, Lacossade felt immense pressure to succeed. He had to equate his best ability. He had to provide something for his family; he had no choice.
Lacossade’s mind would race with “How questions.” “How are they – his family – going to pay for things; how were they going to keep putting food on the table; how were his parents going to do it?”
The questions would bounce around Lacossade’s head, as he tried to figure out the answers himself. The questions and stress would cause him to spiral, resulting in headaches.
Lacossade eventually decided he had to let go of that stress and let God handle it, understanding that God was in control.
One day, that prayer that he dropped to his knees for was answered. The school fee at The Vanguard School decreased, making it more feasible for his family and allowing Lacossade to just focus on basketball.
“I remember crying over it, actually,” Lacossade said. “And my head coach had to come and console me. The school fee was pretty high, and we prayed over it, and I prayed over it and it ended up going down.”
The outpouring of emotion, Lacossade said, came from understanding that God is working, and by putting trust in Him, everything will be OK. That continued on the court for Lacossade, who shined in his lone season at The Vanguard School.
Lacossade, who was a captain for the Panthers, led his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks per game. His 27.1 points per game average ranked No. 6 in the state of Florida and his 13.3 rebounds per game average was No. 7 in the state.
The Vanguard School won its conference for the first time in seven years that season.
But with that success, Lacossade realized he needed to be tested more and play against better competition to prepare him for a long-term future in basketball. As a result, Lacossade told his parents and his agent that he wanted to transfer elsewhere.
Despite the timeline – August 2023 – being close to the beginning of the new school year and interest from several schools in Florida, Lacossade’s agent O’Neill, threw out the idea of Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, where he knew of other students in attendance.
Even though the potential financial hurdles still loomed, Lacossade, his parents and agent had a call with then head boys basketball coach Steven Nowack and an administrator from the school. Soon after, Lacossade enrolled at Rabun Gap.
Just over two years and 61 games later, Lacossade scored his 1,000th point in his high school career, the achievement came on Nov. 28 versus Greensboro Day School.
On Jan. 9 against Winston Salem Christian, Lacossade was honored for the achievement at halftime of Rabun Gap’s 83-60 win.
Before walking back to the bench after being recognized, Lacossade pointed to and showed the commemorative ball he received, to the camera in the gym, where his parents were watching by livestream, as they have for the last few years.
Lacossade, who is averaging 22 points and 10 rebounds a game for the Eagles this season, shared the news with his parents the day before he was recognized, further explaining his accomplishment to his mother, so she could understand his feat.
“I’ll probably get emotional talking too much about him,” Rabun Gap first-year boys head basketball coach Devin Liferidge said of Lacossade. “I can’t think of any finer young men that I’ve coached than him. He just handles himself the right way around this campus. And he’s a true ambassador for our program.”
Lacossade is also a “Prefect” at the school, a student-leadership position selected by faculty recommendations and student applications. Prefects at Rabun Gap are viewed as role models on campus who manage student dorms along with other responsibilities.
While those in attendance have seen him make cuts many times to the basket at Rabun Gap, Lacossade has also developed a new skill. He cuts his own, and other students’ hair.
When Lacossade arrived at Rabun Gap, he realized there were limited options for where he could get his hair cut. In his first year, he had a teammate cut his hair, but it was not always cut to his liking.
As a result, Lacossade bought a $10 razor kit on Amazon, using it at first just to shave and give himself an edge-up. Eventually, he had to overcome the fear of potentially messing up his hair and tried to give himself a haircut in the mirror.
“I messed it up pretty bad,” Lacossade said of the first time he gave himself a haircut. “And it was not the best looking haircut, so I had to rock it.”
Through practice, Lacossade improved at cutting his own hair, and purchased a better razor kit, which made his haircut look better. From there, Lacossade decided to give cutting other students’ hair a try.
As he sharpened his skills as a barber, Lacossade began to charge $10 for a haircut. But that was only if he did not mess up.
“While I was cutting people’s hair, I would cut it for free. I told them, I said, ‘I’m not the best, I’ll cut your hair for free,’” Lacossade said of his early stages as an on-campus barber. “‘So that if I mess it up, I’ll have to give you your money back.’”
During a visit to Florida – where Lacossade’s brother Juvel now attends and plays basketball at The Vanguard School – Lacossade was impressed by a local barber named “Royal” and how effortlessly he cut his hair. Royal and Lacossade talked, and he offered some tips on cutting hair to the 18-year-old Lacossade.
Upon returning to campus, Lacossade upgraded his razor kit once again, and has benefited from being the only barber on campus, after another student who cut hair graduated last year. Lacossade’s rate now runs at $15 per haircut and he shares his work on his Instagram account, under the username “precisionfadesrj.”
“I just love being able to make people happy in terms of their impression, their appearance,” Lacossade said of cutting hair. “Because everybody wants to look good, and to be able to get the credit that, ‘Oh, he gave me a haircut and that haircut turned out really well.’ I kind of like that credit.”
Lacossade said he sees cutting hair when he goes to college as a potential side hustle – but will definitely increase his prices – and could pursue a license to cut hair professionally once his basketball career ends.
As of right now though, Lacossade is continuing to focus on making his family and country proud and leading Rabun Gap, which is one win shy of matching its win total from last season. Thus far, Lacossade has received interest from University of North Georgia and King University in Bristol, Tenn., both of which are NCAA Division II schools.
If Lacossade plays at the NCAA level, he would be just the seventh player all-time from Turks and Caicos to play collegiate basketball in the NCAA, according to RealGM.com.
If Lacossade achieves his dream of playing in the NBA one day – as of now – he would be the second NBA player from Turks and Caicos to make the league after former NBA champion Trevor Ariza.
However, as of now, Lacossade would be the first player born in Turks and Caicos to make the NBA, as Ariza was born in the U.S.
Lacossade said that one day, he wants to change the basketball understanding and the way the game is played in Turks and Caicos by bringing coaches and camps to the islands, so that the game can be taught back home the right way.
“I’ve always been taught that when you give, you receive ten-fold,” Lacossade said of why it’s important to him to give back to Turks and Caicos. “Just being able to go back and say, ‘Here, this is what I’ve been taught, you should do this so that you can do it.’ Making the path easier for others, I feel that’s a big value, and I feel that’s something great.”