BeantownHoops Blog

All teams at one time or another will have injuries, sickness, school problems, and foul trouble in a game that will force coaches to change their rotation and go to the bench. In my opinion, how prepared those bench players perform are a good measure of your coaching ability.  The bench players that you insert are not going to score 20 pts. a game for you when the play, if they did, they wouldn’t be on the bench!  If there is one thing I have learned in my coaching years is that you can’t neglect these valuable members of your team and you must do all that you can throughout the course of the season to prepare them for anything.

Playing off the bench is one of the hardest things to do in sports.  I can speak from experience when I had to do it in high school.   You’re not really warm, your faults are magnified, and you have to know exactly what is happening offensively and defensively in the game at the time.  I have seen many times where players come in and play nervous and make mistakes which cost the team.  Starters will make mistakes as well, but as a bench player you know that you’re margin for error is smaller.  I witnessed this first hand with my players in my early years of coaching and I felt it was the players not preparing themselves properly.  It wasn’t until I got a chance to watch other high school and college coaches practice did I realize that most of the blame was on me.  Here is what I have learned to help prepare your bench and fringe players so they can contribute in a positive way:

1.       Every practice drill must include activity for everyone:  Nothing alienates a bench player more than watching the coaches’ work with the core group while they stand and watch from the sideline.   The only time that you should have players watching is when you scrimmage 5-on-5.  Otherwise, any offensive, defensive, shooting, and transition drill must have everyone working.

2.       Mix up your line-ups in practice:  It is important that you don’t always have your rotation players drilling and scrimmaging against the non-rotation players.  If you do, you will never give your bench players a chance.

3.       Make every drill competitive:  It’s the only way that your bench players will know the intensity and pressure of a game like situation.

4.       Talk to your players:  Hubie Brown said in a clinic that he makes sure he talks to all his players individually every practice.  It doesn’t have to be a long conversation, but acknowledging them and just asking how their day is going goes along way in helping bench players relax when their number is called. 

5.       Control your body language:  When you do have to insert a bench player, at all costs, control your body language.  Covering your eyes, stomping your feet, and waving your hands in the air in disgust when that player makes a mistake, will only make it worse.  Every time a player sees you do that, their confidence takes a hit and they start to become tentative.  I know this is hard to do, but you must limit the amount of times you do this or else you’re making it too hard for the player to help the team.

I felt that as I began to implement these things the contribution from my bench became significant.  In fact, it helped turn seven man rotations into ten and gave me confidence that even the 12^th man could come in and do the job in opportune moments.  I’ll never forget two years ago when my team was involved in a four overtime game on Senior Night.  It was a great game against are rival school, sold out gym, and it went back and forth all night.  By the last overtime session, many players had fouled out and it was up to the bench to decide the game.  A pivotal point came with a minute and a half left and the score was tied at 91.  It was our ball and one bench player who rarely played set a great ball screen to free up the point guard.  The point guard penetrated, collapsed the defense, and kicked out to another bench player, who had limited minutes all year, and he drained a corner three, 94-91.  The next possession, we were running our delay game, when a junior who had played less than five minutes all season, drove the lane, challenged one of the opposing posts and made a reverse lay-up with 30 seconds left, 96-91.  Game over.  I know if I hadn’t prepared those kids all year, they never would have stepped up in the most pressure packed of situations.  You’re going to need these players at some time during the season, so don’t neglect them and get them ready.

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“Gentlemen, I don’t know what happened in the past, but I can promise you one thing, you’re going to compete every day in practice, you’re going to compete every game, and we’re going to play a fast break, uptempo style that nobody else in the league will be able to stop.”  I remember when I got my first head coaching job the reaction I received from the players when I told them this.  You could feel a buzz in the room and a new excitement infused into each player.  I wonder what the reaction would have been if I told them that we were going to walk the ball up the floor, try to keep the scores in the 40’s, and make five passes before each shot?  I have learned since that time, that both ways win basketball games and there is more than one way to be successful in our sport.  But I still believe that “playing fast” is a great way to get your players and fans excited and more importantly it is something I can teach to my players.

Most of the coaches I have talked to who do not like to run believe they don’t have the personnel to play fast.  Good point, but unless your players can’t dribble, pass, or shoot, I feel that any team can do it.  Let me first define what I feel playing uptempo means:

1.  I believe in running a numbered break (either primary and secondary) and teams must be looking to push the ball in every opportunity.

2.  All players must run.  On every basket, all players must be over half court (you see this alot when a guard gets a steal and there are still three players hanging around your basket) and more importantly if they are ahead of the ball constantly looking to receive it.

3.  Defensive rebounding, deflections, and steals lead to more odd numbered breaks for the team so it must be emphasized and drilled every practice.  Yes, even during shootarounds.

I remember watching the great Celtics and Lakers teams of the 80’s and how everyone talked about “Showtime” with the Lakers.  What the common folk didn’t notice was that the Celtics we’re just as good at pushing the ball up the floor.  The Celtics passed the ball up and finished with short jumpers or three’s while the Lakers we’re making fancy passes and ending them with dunks.  Both effective and both running an uptempo style.  It is also important to note that when these teams did not have an easy basket, they ran great half court sets and took good shots within the structure of the offense.  This is the hardest part for coaches to teach and players to understand, but it is nothing film and structured practices can’t fix. 

Again, this is not for every team and if your team is going to run it, you have to work on it constantly.  The biggest determining factor will be whether or not you feel comfortable enough to teach it properly.  One thing that has bothered me recently, especially in the NBA, is how micromanaged it has become.  Using the whole shot clock and running a set that takes 20 seconds to develop has slowed the game down and it is trickling down to the high school levels.  In my opinion, any team can play an uptempo style, whether or not you adopt it is up to you.

I always like to attend basketball clinics and watch coaching videos whenever I get a chance to help me understand the game better.  Even if I didn’t run a certain system or didn’t like a defense, I watched and listened just in case I faced an opposing team that did run it.  However, when I first started coaching, I always equated team success to coaching knowledge.  If a team was winning, their coach had to be great with X’s and O’s and could really teach the game.  This was pretty apparent when I would attend a clinic and you couldn’t find a seat for Roy Williams, Geno Auriemma, or Jim Boeheim.  But the minute the local high school coach or junior college coach would talk, plenty were available.  I was one of those coaches who only stayed for the big names until I attended a clinic at the NABC convention in 2004.

I was going to watch Notre Dame Coach Mike Brey speak, but I went at the wrong time and a junior college coach from Texas was speaking before him.  I figured it wasn’t worth going back to the hotel and coming back 50 minutes later so I stayed.  It’s a good thing I did because I picked up something that helped my teams tremendously.  For the life of me I can’t remember the name of the coach, but he talked on a variety of topics including something he called his Total Worth System. 

The Total Worth System (TWS) was similar to a +/- system in hockey.  If you don’t know, a player receives a + if his team scores when he is on the ice and a – if the other team scores while he is on the ice.  The point being is that you can tell how effective the player is when he is in the game.  With TWS, you didn’t take the amount of points scored or scored against, but you gave points for positive things on the court and you took away points for negative things.  The first time I used the system, I realized how important it was when determining how well a player performed in that game.  Many times after a game my coaching staff and I would have a general idea of how someone played, but without fail, after the TWS was calculated we found out that a player didn’t play as well as we thought or a player was better than initially thought. 

The coach taught a basic system where he gave points for makes, rebounds, assists, steals and took away points for missed shots and turnovers.  I love stats so I expanded the system to make it more effective for my staff and players.  Here is the breakdown of how it works:

2 point field goal made:         +2 points

2 point field goal missed:       -2 points

3 pt. field goal made:             +3 points

3 pt. field goal missed:                    -2 points

Free-throw made:                  +1 point

Free-throw missed:                -1 point

Offensive rebounds:               +2 points

Defensive rebounds:              +1 point

Assists:                                   +2 points

Marquette Assists:                 +1 point

-         When Coach Tom Crean was at Marquette he used this phrase to give credit to players who made a nice setup pass but it wasn’t converted to points. 

-         When adding these numbers together, I would add them to the assists column.

Blocks:                                    +2 points

Steals:                                     +2 points

Deflections:                            +1 point

-         I would also put these into the steals category so for every two deflections, I added them to steals

Turnovers:                              -4 points

Hustles:                                  +3 points

-          Hustles for me was defined as any charge, charge attempt, diving for a loose ball, or just making an effort play (sprinting back on defense or a great help and recover play)

The beauty of this system is that you can add or subtract whatever categories you think will fit your team.  One coach I worked with in Seattle was very big on setting proper screens.  I’m sure he would add “perfect screens” as a + category.  In addition, basketball is a subjective sport and the TWS gives players a concrete number, much like a golf score or a time in swimming or track.  Players will always talk about how many points they scored, but I have seen it where a player scores 20 points but has a negative total worth because he missed a lot of shots and had a lot of turnovers. 

I liked to keep my own stats and I would do the TWS after each game.  It is nearly impossible to do perfectly during the game so it will take some time and effort.  But I do feel it is a great tool that can help you, your staff, and players.  In fact, it was the one stat all my players wanted to know after each game.  They realized that total team play was more important than being the leading scorer.  I had a player who shot poorly all year, but he was one of the leaders in the TWS because of his defense and hustle. 

I was able to easily integrate TWS into Turbo Stats and also did it on a spreadsheet.  If you want a sample spreadsheet of the system from one of my former teams I would be glad to send it to you.  All you would have to do is edit the names and maybe change some formulas if you add new categories.  Please email me at webmaster@beantownhoops.com and I will email you a copy.

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I was catching up on the latest news in my hometown of Seattle, Washington when I came across an interesting blog (Seattle Times UW Blog).  Tony Wroten of Garfield H.S. and the 13th ranked player in the Class of 2011, tore his ACL playing football and is out for the entire year.  In a city that takes great pride in its basketball this is a huge blow. If you didn’t know here is quick rundown of some famous Seattle players:  Jamal Crawford (Atlanta), Nate Robinson (New York),  Brandon Roy (Portland), Martell Webster(Portland), Spencer Hawes (Sacramento), Terrence Williams (New Jersey), Jason Terry (Dallas), Rodney Stuckey (Detroit), Aaron Brooks (Houston).

The bigger question is should Tony Wroten had been playing football in the first place?  The last time Wroten even played football was in the seventh grade when he decided to turn out again this season.  It is a question that every basketball coach in America has had to deal with at one time.  Does playing another sport hinder the progress of the athlete?  Will it be a distraction to the other basketball players who are running and working out in preparation for the season?

I coached at a school in Chicago whose focus is primarily on football.  As long as the football team was doing well, everything was right in the school.  I didn’t have any problems with the football coaching staff, in fact we got along quite well.  But I was always hearing rumors about people in the football program telling dual sport athletes not to play basketball.  They should focus on getting stronger and bigger in the weight room because basketball would make them smaller and if they wanted to play college football this was the only way.  I took the opposite approach and always encouraged my players to play other sports.  My only rule with them is that they had to be committed to basketball once their season ended in the Fall and until their season began in the Spring.  During the off-season, I asked them to communicate clearly with me and to be sure they were always doing something for basketball.  If they could not adhere to this, I asked them politely to pick one sport that they could consistently focus on and give 100% effort.  If it was basketball great, if it wasn’t, then they would have been more of a distraction then help to the team.

With the specialization of sports today and athletes playing year round, the day of the three-sport letterman is slowly going away.  However, I think coaches who are pressuring kids to play just one sport and are telling them that other sports will hinder their progress are doing kids a disservice.  As coaches, our job is to mentor, model proper behavior, and support the student-athlete.  By telling them that other sports are bad or they may lose their spot if they don’t focus on one is not the appropriate way to help an athlete.

I feel bad that Tony Wroten is out for the year.  He could have easily hurt his knee playing pick up basketball than playing football.  In fact, it happens all the time where basketball players get hurt in an open gym and have to miss a significant amount of the season.  Most high school athletes will never get a chance again to play more than one organized sport after high school (playing in a 35 and over basketball and softball league doesn’t count) so as coaches we should support them to do so.  I wish Tony and many other athletes around the country a speedy recovery and I hope they get to play their respective sports soon.
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Coach Ken Stevenson of Seton Academy (IL) has coached his son Ken Stevenson, Jr. the past four years.  Ken Jr. has just committed to a DI school and Ken Sr. continues to build a strong program in the State of Illinois.  They have endured many growing pains in the program and many highs, including a state championship last season.  But how has the dynamic of coaching your son and being coached by your dad brought these two closer together.  Beantownhoops caught up with both of them to find out.

Interview with Ken Stevenson Jr.

Beantownhoops: Describe what it is like to play for your dad.

Ken Stevenson Jr.:  “It is very challenging but it also a good experience because I get to know what the plays are ahead of time, I get to come home and know what I can do better or what I need to work on. He gets to work with me first hand. I know that he will be harder on me than anyone else. He is so passionate and wants to win all the time so it makes it great to play for him. He wants the best for me so he pushes me hard. My mother could never take sides so she just had to listen, but I believe she was on my side when he got on me. I am ready for college because you cannot get any harder than he is so I am well prepared.”

Beantownhoops: Congratulations on your commitment to college, how was this process enjoyable and how was it difficult?

Ken Stevenson Jr.:  “The whole recruiting process was enjoyable because I got to visit a lot of schools and see the campus and get to know the coaches.  The college I chose had been recruiting me since the end of my sophomore year and they stayed in with me.  The fact that my parents, especially my dad, gets to see me play and the opportunity for me to play right away were the deciding factors.  My future college coaches remind me so much of my dad so that helped as well.  It is a very good school so that played a major role in me committing to them.”

“It was difficult because you can only decide on one school and it was confusing sometimes because coaches were telling me different things and taking the calls at weird hours of the day/night was stressful at times.”

Beantownhoops: What will you miss about being coached by your dad?

Ken Stevenson Jr.:  “I will miss the basketball conversations that we have before and after games.  Just being with my father on a regular basis was good and bad.  The good part was that we spent a lot of time together and I got to really see how passionate he is when it comes to basketball.  The bad part is I never get what the other players get. What I mean is they get told how good they did, I would get what I didn’t do or what I should have done, but in the end it made me a better player for it.  He couldn’t show favoritism toward me so he was tough on me, but I truly understand.  He got to see me play all the time that was the greatest thing about him coaching me. He prepared me well to be in the position to attend college both on the court and off the court.  He did a lot for all of us at Seton Academy.  He truly cares for his players and we enjoy playing for him because of that.”

Beantownhoops:  What advice would you give a player who is being coached by his dad at the high school level?

Ken Stevenson Jr.:  “Be ready to give a 110 percent on or off the court because you will be watched by everyone from the players, parents, teachers, other coaches. Know that it will be out of love when you get yelled at or asked to come out of the game. You have to be a leader on the court and stay after practice to do the extra stuff so you can show people why you are on the team and not because your father is the coach. Do not take anything personal. Just play the game the way it’s meant to be played and enjoy the time spent with your dad.”

Interview with Coach Stevenson

Beantownhoops:  Describe the process of starting a whole new program like you did at Seton Academy.

Coach Stevenson: “It was a very difficult one but challenging. My coaches and I spent a lot of time trying to teach those young men how to compete. We had to get to the basics with a lot of the young men. I have a lot of passion for the game of basketball and the kids saw it. I demanded a lot out of them and I wanted to show people that if you play hard and compete that anything is possible. Once we show people that we can compete, I knew that people would start paying attention to our program. It wasn’t easy and it was a lot of handwork but nothing in life is easy. To be successful you have to have players willing to work and want to win. Those are the kind of players that I had at Seton Academy.

Beantownhoops: After winning a state championship, how do you look to build off your team’s success this season?

Coach Stevenson:  “This will probably be the toughest season I will have ever endured because we are no longer a secret and the bull’s eye is on our backs. The good is that I have eight seniors and they are very experienced so that will help us. They have that taste in their mouth and that feeling that they had at the end of the year. We will constantly look at those state rings and remind ourselves what it took to get those rings, we will look at the tapes to show how dedicated we were last year.”

Beantownhoops:  You’ve coached your son for four years, have you treated him differently on the court than other players?

Coach Stevenson:  “I treated them all the same, but I must admit he got it harder than most. I wanted to win so the best players were going to play and I’m hard on all of them. What made it easy for me is the fact that he could play the game and his peers and teammates knew that because he developed his own reputation in the basketball world. I really didn’t think he was going to come to Seton because he hadn’t said much about it in eighth grade.”

Beantownhoops:  How were you able to help your son in the recruiting process as a father and coach?

Coach Stevenson:  “I wanted whatever was best for him.  We took a lot of visits especially his sophomore and junior years. I wanted him to decide on the best situation for him. I treated him no different than I do my other players. I do not tell players where they should go and that went for him as well. I guide, answer questions and share knowledge. I told him that he has to go somewhere that he will be comfortable playing and attending school. Do not go to a situation where you may never play because then school will be no fun for you. ”

“Overall I do believe that he did a good job on deciding where he wanted to play basketball at.   His mother wanted him to go to the school he chose the very first time he got offered.  The coaches did a great job in the recruiting process and the fact that their program has turned around was a deciding factor. I do believe that they will do a good job with my son and taking him to that next level. It has been a great experience coaching my son and I will truly miss him, but he is on to bigger and better things. I will continue doing what I do but I will still get to see him play and talk to him about his game, that will never change.  We have had a lot of success together at Seton and I am so proud of him words cannot describe it.”

Beantownhoops:  What advice would you give to a coach who is coaching his son at the high school level?

Coach Stevenson:  “It’s very tough coaching your son because you cannot be a fan because you’re coaching. Coach no different that you do if your son wasn’t on the team, that is the best advice I could give. If you love coaching and are all about the kids then you will be fine. If you are just about your kid then it will never work and there will not be any team success. Cherish those moments with your kid because four years go by awfully quick.”

Beantownhoops talked with two coaches from different parts of the country about how they have built a basketball program that has sustained success over a period of time.

Coach Steve Harrington has been coaching at Watertown H.S. in Massachusetts the past fifteen years with a record of 240-103 and has won two state titles, while at the same time helping develop players for the collegiate level.

Coach Gene Nolan has been coaching at Marist H.S. in Illinois the past ten years and has won numerous regional titles; sent players to all levels of collegiate play, and inherited a struggling program and turned it into a perennial contender.

Beantownhoops: When you started your program what were your expectations?

Coach Harrington: “I was 24 and I really wanted to figure out if I would be able to build a program. I quickly found out that this was something that was in my blood I was very passionate about building our program. I wanted Watertown to be able to compete for championships.”

Coach Nolan: “When we began our program at Marist in 2000, we had a lot of work to do. And we couldn’t wait to get started. It was an exciting feeling. As we began, we always tried to focus on the things we could control. Namely, we wanted to establish the “image and identity” of who we were - how we played, how we acted, and the type of program we identified ourselves as. We knew going in that this was going to take some time - maybe a lot of time. As it turned out, our first year, we were 2-22, and 7-70 on all three levels.”

Beantownhoops: What do you think are the essential building blocks to starting a program?

Coach Harrington: “Hard work and constantly thinking how to get better. To be consistently competitive. Being visible in the community with the travel and youth programs. Running programs for younger players to help them with their coaches to reach their potential and most importantly to be able to develop players.”

Coach Nolan: “I believe the essential building block of building a program begins with trying to establish a culture that can endure over time. We constantly use the term “family” here at Marist. All of our coaches, players, alumni, support staff, everyone - we are all in this together. Each year, we have different players, maybe some different coaches, a new manager perhaps - but the culture of who we are and what we do is going to be seen everywhere. Every year. Also, It is essential to have great kids. If we have had any success at Marist, it is because of the GREAT young men who have come here to become Marist student-athletes. With great kids, we feel we can overachieve. I learned a long time ago from a very good coaching friend of mine who said “If a kid is a punk, in the end, he will always let you down.” I have found this to be very true. I have also found the opposite to be true. If a kid is a good kid, in the end, he never lets you down. Great kids always just seem to find a way.”

Beantownhoops: What things do you feel have been the most beneficial to establishing your winning program?

Coach Harrington: “Having great players and getting administration and community support (recreation dept and youth basketball). You also need to have quality assistant coaches.”

Coach Nolan: “The most important part of having established a winning program belongs to the kids who have come to Marist. All of the wins belong to them and the losses (and there are many of them!) belong to me. Our kids have been wonderful to coach. I always try to remember something that I thought of often as a 26 year-old head coach ten years ago, and I never want to forget - and that is that players win games.”

Beantownhoops: What advice would you give a brand new head coach going into this season?

Coach Harrington: “Reach out to the key people in your community and work together to maximize your program. Get help from the right people who have similar goals that you have. Also go all in. In order to be successful over the long haul recognize potential land mines before they happen. What I mean is do not have your blinders on, recognize potential negative situations (angry parents, cancer on team, poor grades, bad home life) and try to deal with them ahead of time before it is too late.”

Coach Nolan: “Any advice I would give to a brand new head coach heading into this season would be:
a. Build your culture first. If it’s done the right way, it will endure.
b. Always look at your players as people first and players second. This way, you will always win.
c. Build your style of play, and be patient. The first year is always exciting, because you can experiment.
d. Have fun. That is why we fell in love with this game a long time ago as kids.
e. Always question yourself, but never doubt yourself.
f. Be true to yourself. It is who you, and your kids, know best.
g. Have a vision of what you want your program to look like, and dream big!
h. Remember what Roy Williams of UNC once said: “Every one of the kids you coach is someday going to look you in the eye as an adult. And he is going to remember something you gave to him. Make sure it is
something positive.”
i. Thank those who have helped you along the way.
j. Help others along their way.”

Beantownhoops.com:  What have been some of the similarities and differences between playing and coaching?
Coach LaForce-Mann: “There aren’t many similarities between being a player and a coach. You see the game out of two different lenses. As a coach, you focus on the team and how to get them to perform to the best of their ability. Your main concern is making sure they approach every challenge as a unit. Players on the other hand are more concerned with their individual performance and contribution to the team. I am glad I had a chance to value both perspectives. This helps me understand my players by making them realize that I value their individual contribution to the team.”

What has been the most enjoyable thing about coaching at the DI level?
“The most enjoyable thing about coaching at the Division I level is the opportunity to give full scholarships to qualified student athletes. Due to their academic performance and athletic ability each member of the team is awarded a full scholarship to attend college.”

What has been the toughest part about coaching at the DI level?
“The toughest thing about coaching at the Division I level is it’s level if commitment both for the coaches and they players. This commitment means devoting a lot of time to being competitive both on and off the court.”

What advice would you give a coach looking to coach at the collegiate level?
“The advice I would give is that you have to coach for the right reasons. It’s a demanding and sometimes very stressful. Despite these disadvantages you see the value in a role model, a confidant, and lastly, a coach. You have to embrace all aspects of coaching in order to be a successful coach.“

What coaches have influenced your career and coaching philosophy?
“I try to walk away having learned from every coach I have either played for or worked with. My philosophy is a compilation of learning “what to do” and “what not to do”. Sometimes learning what not to do once you become a head coach is just as valuable as learning what to do. You seem to come up with your our philosophy about coaching both on and off the court.”

What advice would you give a player who thinks they have the ability to play DI basketball?
“My advice would be to pursue their dream. The harder they work the more likely it will happen. Coaches like players who are dedicated and are self motivated. We think we can always teach you how to become a better player but we can’t teach athletes the motivation it takes to be a great player. Also, in order to play at the Division 1 level you must love the game. You will be asked to wake up at 6 a.m. for workouts and possibly spend any free time working on your game. Therefore you must love to play and love to learn the game.”

Any other thoughts on the game of basketball?
“I love this game and the opportunity I have to work with young women not only to make them better basketball players but better individuals. The game is used as a tool to teach life lessons.”

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During my high school coaching career I have seen many things that made me wonder why I got into this business.  Feel free to add any of your items to make this list complete.  The following list is based on real life events as an assistant and head coach.

1.  You spend all off-season and pre-season implementing a new offense or defense and realize about a week before the first game there is no way they will ever get it.

2.   You care more about the game then your players do.

3.  The opposing player you scouted is shooting 6% from the 3-pt. line, but when he plays your team he hits 5 three’s in the third quarter to cut a 20 pt lead to one.

4.  There is always a player on your team who thinks he’s Kobe Bryant.

5.  “Coach, my son was real good in the 4th grade, how come he is not playing a lot as a Senior?”  - a parent comment to me after we beat the #5 team in the state on their homecourt at the buzzer.

6.   You have a 5 point lead late in a playoff game when your star player is called for a foul.  The player then procedes to take off his shoe and throws it in to the crowd for a double tech ejection.  We lost.

7.  Your team was just eliminated from the playoffs when one of your Seniors storms out of the locker room yelling profanities at the coaching staff because he had a bad game.

8.   You lose at the buzzer.

9.  The administration at the school thinks the basketball program is not as important as the chess team.

10. No matter what you do you can’t make your players two inches taller.

Reading my list you might think that I didn’t enjoy coaching, but when I make a list of the things that makes coaching great, it will be a list of 100 rather than 10.  Keep coaching and remember that you’re doing it for the kids.

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One of the most gratifying things about coaching at any level is the relationships that you build with your players in the program. You get to see how these young men and women grow and develop on and off the court and how they deal with the highs and lows of daily life. The most enjoyable moments for me is when players graduate and come back from college to see how you and the team are doing. All the stresses of coaching seem to go away when you see one of your ex-players and find out how their lives have changed since you saw them last.

Unfortunately in this transition from high school to college there are times when tragedy occurs. I was saddened last year when I heard about the tragic death of a former player of mine, Nate Hagen. Nate played for me in Seattle and wasn’t my best player, but someone who always worked hard and would always do whatever the team needed. It was hard for me to handle that he was gone and it was a shame that somebody so young with their life still in front of them was not with us anymore.

Just recently, I found out about the sudden death of another player, Jim Griffin. “Griff”,as we called him, was entering his Senior year of playing basketball at Samford University. He was found dead in his sleep and the coroner,at the time of this writing, had yet to release the details. I was an assistant coach at Marist High School in Chicago, under Coach Gene Nolan, Griff’s Senior season. He was the catalyst on that team and one of the main reasons the team went on to win over 25 games. He was the model citizen, student, and player and every coach would love to have a Jim Griffin on their team. He will be dearly missed by all that knew him.

It is a sad day for every basketball coach when a player passes away. We are given a huge responsibility to help mold our players into becoming better people and athletes while at the same time being there as a mentor after their playing days with us our over. When I hear this type of news, whether I coached the player or not, I realize how important our jobs are to young people. There is pressure to win and coaches are fired if they don’t succeed in the win column. It is an unfortunate part of the business, but what is never measured is the impact coaches have on their players for the rest of their lives. I hope all coaches understand this and are always there for their players when basketball is done. Rest in peace Nate and Griff.

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Beantownhoops.com recently caught up with VCU Assistant Coach Will Wade to get his insight on coaching at the DI level.

Coach Wade’s Background
Playing Experience:
None at the College Level, Manager at Clemson

College Coaching Experience:
Clemson University - Graduate Assistant (05-06), Director of Operations (06-07), Harvard University - Assistant Coach (07-08, 08-09), VCU Assistant Coach (09-present)

Beantownhoops.com:   What are your current duties at your school?
Coach Wade:  “All of our assistants take an active role is all facets of the program - Recruiting, Individual Workouts, Game Planning, etc … We do not have certain staff members pinned that only do certain things as Coach Smart wants to develop all of us individually while making our team stronger.”

What has been the most enjoyable thing about coaching at the DI level?
“The relationships I have built with players, coaches and just all of the people around basketball.”

What has been the toughest part about coaching at the DI level?
“The time constraints are great … I always tell people that this is a lifestyle and not a job … I have a very difficult time getting away from my work as I always feel like there is so much more I can be doing for our players, team, or in recruiting … It is a never ending process.”

What advice would you give a coach looking to coach at the collegiate level?
“Work hard at the job you have as you never know who is watching … Keep building relationships with everyone as you never know when you will need to call on one of those relationships … Every day at your current job is like an interview so treat it as such.”

What coaches have influenced your career and coaching philosophy?
“I have been influenced by every coach I have been around … I have tried to take the good from each coach and incorporate it into my own philosophy … One thing I like about recruiting is watching a ton of high school games and practices so I enjoy picking their brains as well and learning things from them also … The coaches I have worked for who I have taken things from are Larry Shyatt, Oliver Purnell, Tommy Amaker, and Shaka Smart … Each one of them has different backgrounds and it has been a great learning experience for me.”

What advice would you give a player who thinks they have the ability to play DI basketball?
“Be competitive in everything that you do … Never take a day off and continue to work hard on your game daily … Never think that you have arrived - There is always something that you can improve on … Focus on those things and get better at those … Also, I think players get way to caught up in rankings - Don’t worry about those and just worry about what you can control = Put your blinders on to get better.”

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