AI study coach for high school athletes

Study like you train.

Short, coached study sessions built around your practice schedule. The Assist keeps your core-course GPA on track for NCAA eligibility and gets you ready for the tests that still decide admissions and merit money.

Join the pilot Why I'm building this
12 day streak
  • ODP invitee
  • TN All-State Jazz · 1st chair ×2
  • WashU · Computer Engineering
  • Rice · MS in AI
  • Argonne · SC25
How it works

Every session is a practice plan.

Athletes already know how to get better: show up, run the drill, watch the film. The Assist uses the same routine for school.

01 2–5 min

Warm-up

A few fast questions find where you are today. The tutor adjusts the rest of the session from your answers.

02 10–15 min

Main set

One skill, worked step by step with a tutor that explains things in your language. Sports examples, not textbook filler.

03 5 min

Film review

Past mistakes come back until you get them right. Coaches and parents get a weekly summary, not a wall of data.

Eligibility tracker

16 core courses. No surprises senior year.

NCAA Division I eligibility runs on 16 core courses and a minimum core GPA, with 10 of them locked in before your seventh semester. The Assist tracks every one, so a missed class never costs you an offer.

What makes it different

Tutors who look like you. Lessons with rhythm.

First release

Animated tutors with a real cast

Kids work harder for mentors they recognize. The Assist's tutors are consistent animated characters, designed with Black and diaspora students at the center, built on the same character pipeline I use in professional animation.

Coach DreMath
Ms. NiaReading
MarcusScience

Every answer is checked by a second AI before a student sees it. A tutor that teaches the wrong thing is worse than no tutor, so accuracy checks ship on day one.

Coming next

Rhythm drills

Fractions as time signatures. Ratios as tempo. Students build a groove, and the tutor connects it back to the math.

3/4 │ ♩ ♩ ♩ │ = 1 bar │ ♪♪ ♩ ♩ │ ½ + ½ + 1 + 1 = 3
For programs

Built for small towns too

Volunteer tutors get diagnostics and lesson plans. Coordinators get outcome reports they can put in grant applications.

The tutoring gap

Some families buy a tutor. Most can't.

Families with money have always bought their kids an edge: a private tutor two nights a week, a full test-prep package, someone checking every grade. The students I tutored in Mason never had that. Neither do most athletes who spend their evenings at practice.

The Assist gives every student coached, one-on-one sessions for a small fraction of the cost. A great human tutor is still worth it if you can afford one. The Assist is for everyone who can't.

Monthly cost · 2 sessions a week
Elite test-prep tutor$1,600+
~$200/hr and up · 8 hrs
Average private tutor~$500
~$62/hr national average · 8 hrs
The Assist$19
Unlimited sessions · about 4% of an average tutor

A full 20–30 hour SAT/ACT prep package commonly runs $1,500–$6,000. Three months of The Assist is $57. Tutor rates vary widely by market and come from published industry pricing guides.

Founder

Joshua-James Claybon

Combine technology, music, and the arts to push students from overlooked places toward academic success.

I wrote that mission in my college applications. It got me into WashU and Rice and earned me the Ervin Scholarship and the GEM Fellowship. The Assist is how I keep that promise with the tools I've learned since.

Connect on LinkedIn
  1. Age 9

    FieldCompetitive soccer

    State league level and an invite to the Olympic Development Program. I know what a day of school plus practice costs a kid.

  2. 8th grade

    MusicJazz band, first chair

    First chair in the Tennessee All-State Jazz Band two years in a row. Music taught me that skill comes from daily practice.

  3. High school

    ClassTutoring in Mason, TN

    Staff at a nonprofit in a town of under 1,000 people, tutoring low-income students in ACT math, reading, English and science, plus chess, kickball and volleyball days.

  4. High school

    FieldClassFounded ACT prep for athletes

    A program for athletes who needed higher scores to accept scholarships at top programs. The Assist starts from that idea.

  5. 2024

    B.S. Computer Engineering, WashU

    DevOps internship at Argonne National Laboratory the same summer.

  6. 2025

    AI research at Argonne

    Built a multi-agent AI system for scientific research, accepted to SC25. The Assist's tutor uses the same pattern: one agent teaches, another checks its work.

  7. 2025

    M.S. Computer Science (AI), Rice

    Reinforcement learning, deep learning for computer vision, and AI systems.

  8. Now

    ArtsFounding Engineer, Underscore Animation

    AI tools and character pipelines for an animation studio focused on the global Black and diaspora audience.

Pricing

Pick your roster.

Pilot spots are free for the first season. These are the planned prices after that.

Athlete

$19 / month
  • Daily coached sessions
  • Eligibility tracker
  • Weekly parent summary

Team

Best for clubs
$8 / athlete / month
  • Everything in Athlete
  • Coach dashboard for the whole roster
  • Academic risk alerts before grades post

Community

Free pilot
  • For nonprofits and Title I programs
  • Volunteer tutor tools
  • Outcome reports for grants

Prices are planned and may change before launch. Students under 13 join only with parent consent.