The Kee to Coaching: The Journey of Year 1
Good afternoon!
It has been a while since I've checked in, and felt this was a good time to write a post and get everybody caught up on my first season as a head coach. Since I took over the program here at The Apprentice School, I have been on the go nonstop, and have been loving every second of being here. We are in the process of interviewing and offering potential recruits, spots on our roster and in our program. My staff and I have done a tremendous job of identifying highly talented basketball players, who are even better students and people! We only get six "slots" to recruit with, and we are actually at the point where we have to turn some very good recruits away (not a bad problem to have). We had a first-year player in our program earn First-Team All-American Honors, and we return a ton of very talented players!
March Madness has arrived, and I have been engulfed in the various conference and national tournaments. Unfortunately, we didn't qualify for the USCAA Nationals this season, but it is surely at the top of our goal board for next season!
My first year as a head coach was an incredible year of growth and I learned a ton each day. The top 3 things I learned this season are listed below:
1. You're Never as Good or Bad as People Think
- We had a very difficult first semester schedule and started this season 0-12. Our first twelve games featured eleven road games, four games against NCAA Division 2 opponents, three games against teams from the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (one of the top NCAA Division 3 leagues), & and a game against team that was on a 56 game winning streak, and finished the 17-18 season, 28-1. Many people counted us out and doubted that we would have much success over the course of the season. As a young coach, I would be lying if I said that the losing didn't affect me, but I remained positive with the guys on the team and kept doing my best to continue improving myself and our team each day. In the second half of the season, we surely did! We went 8-5 in the year 2018, and finished with a record of 8-17. Not ideal, but it was a better record than the team had the previous season, and we finished the season playing our best basketball. I was extremely proud of the adversity that our group overcame this year, and how they learned how to win. Our guys played for one another and sacrificed so much. It was an honor to watch their development this season!
2. The Importance of Building Confidence
- For the most part, players want to be successful. When a player makes a mistake, or feels that they hurt the team's chances of winning, they are very tough on themselves, and don't always need to be beaten down further by the coach. We have a great coaching staff at The Apprentice School. Each one of my assistants bring something different to the table, but we had a great blend of personalities and all of the members of my staff truly cared about each individual we coached. We did an incredible job of empowering our players and building them up, even when things weren't going well. We were low on bodies this season, and it was helpful that our players were able to work through mistakes early in the season. It allowed them to play loose and really figure out what they could and couldn't do on the court. We also really cheered them on when they made positive plays in practice or in games and that positive reinforcement really paid off. Without having much success in the win column, especially early on, this was pivotal in keeping our guys working hard and trusting in themselves and each other.
3. Have a Work-Life Balance
- I've wrote about this in the past, but this was extremely important for me this first season. It's so easy to get consumed by work, that many times people don't get to fully enjoy all of the joys that life has to offer. As a coach, I usually spend the majority of my free time doing something basketball-related. That could be watching film, recruiting, reading articles and other coaching blogs, or reaching out to other coaches to seek advice. Those things are all great and surely helped me be a better coach, but It's important to not let work or basketball totally consume you. This season, I developed positive habits and hobbies, that helped take my mind off the stress of the job and allowed me to develop into a more well-rounded person. I got more involved in reading the bible and spending time in prayer. One of my New Year's goals was to spend time each morning watching a sermon and meditating before work. I've done a pretty good job of holding myself to that. My subscription to blue apron, a meal service provider, in addition to other activities has helped keep me fresh and prepared to attack each work day! I look forward to developing my golf skills this Spring and hope to pick up on a few more hobbies. This off-season will be spent not only recruiting and learning more about basketball/coaching, it will also be a time to grow and develop as a complete person!
