The Kee to Coaching: Final 4 Nuggets

For those of you who have been following my social media accounts, you know that I attended the NABC Convention in Phoenix last week. This was my first time making it out to the convention, and attending this convention was the smartest thing that I've done so far in my career. I caught up with a ton of coaching friends, met coaches at all levels, and learned an insane amount about basketball and life.

I sat in on as many clinics as I possibly could, and I will be sharing a few of my notes over the next couple of weeks.

Clinic: "Examining the Career Path to Collegiate Head Coach"

(Speakers: Dr. Chris Croft - Assistant Basketball Coach at Southern Miss & Dr. Pete Van Mullen - Associate Professor at Lewis-Clark State College)

Tips for Being a Head Coach

-Evaluate your network (utilize twitter and other social media networks)

-Develop your skill set (Learn the NBA game. Find other college programs to study.

-Establish your key mentors (Find people who are willing and able to help you)

-Reflect on your purpose (Why do you coach? Hopefully to help impact lives)

-Trust the path that you're on

-Think long term

-Move up so you can slide down (Whatever level that you want to be a head coach at, try to be an assistant at a place one level higher. If you want to be a mid-major D1 coach, try and get to an assistant position at the high-major level)

Head Coaching Study Data

-Collegiate Head Coaches usually spent 10 years as assistant coaches

-Average of 3 coaching stops before landing head job

-85% of head coaches played in college

-30% played professionally

-10% were student managers

-Coaches usually end up as head coaches at the level that they first started at

Clinic: "Identifying the Characteristics of a Coach"

(Speaker: Greg Kampe - Head Coach at Oakland University & Jason Bowser - Sports Agent)

Clinic was about Branding Yourself and Moving Up in the Business

-Be the best you can at your current job

-Being a great coach is the minimum. Must be able to network and market yourself and your program