Congratulations to James Justice, the 5’9 All-American guard from Martin Methodist College, for winning the 2012 State Farm College Slam Dunk Contest. He beat out seven NCAA Division I players, including Miles Plumlee from Duke University. If you didn’t see it on ESPN, then I highly recommend it. If nothing else, seeing the judges (including Bobby Hurley and John Salley) react after James’ last dunk is priceless. Here is the footage (courtesy of SBnation.com).
15 Best Books for Leaders
“I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday.” (Abraham Lincoln)
As a basketball coach, I have a tremendous opportunity to lead and influence people every day. Certainly leadership involves a great many things, however, I have found that constantly learning and re-learning methods, strategies, and insights gives me a better chance to lead in a positive manner. Reading books is one of the key resources that I utilize in trying to sharpen my leadership skills. Every once in awhile, I’ll even read a book again because it was so good. Below are some of the books that I’d recommend highly for anyone seeking to be a better leader.
Championship Lessons Learned at NAIA National Tournament
(originally published on March 27, 2012)From March 10-20, I spent time serving on the NAIA National Tournament Committee. It was a bittersweet experience. Meeting all the coaches, watching all the games, observing many practices and helping the tournament run smoothly was great. However, it was difficult watching the teams play knowing that we had been fairly close to qualifying ourselves. If only we’d won 1-2 more games, we might have been one of the 32-teams that earned a bid. I must say that Rob Edmission’s Oklahoma City University team was extremely impressive throughout the entire tournament. They beat Union University in the championship game, which is no small feat. As I watched the games and thought about how to get my team to the tournament, I came up with some observations. In no particular order, I have listed them below.
DON’T BE A TWIT … twitter rules to live by
(originally published on March 13, 2012)I am fairly new to the world of social media, especially twitter. I have an account and have composed some tweets. However, don’t expect me to twit anyone back. I also just learned in the last week that “dm” isn’t short for “you da man”. “Direct Message” makes more sense. I kind of thought that it was strange when people would keep asking me to “dm” them. Okay, whatever dawg…u da man!
Best Basketball Coaches Not on TV
(originally published on March 7, 2012)
A recent blog posting by Helen Wheelock got me thinking about coaching job searches and who administrators hire. Seems like most of the talk always centers around the DI coaches, especially the “up-and-comers”. I do not profess to know exactly what makes a good coach in all situations. Good coaches in a bad situation can lead to struggles and failures, whereas unproven coaches (i.e. assistants) in good situations can lead to success and excitement.
“My Pleasure”
Endless roads. Hour after hour we drove. A college women’s basketball team and myself.
“Are we there yet”?
“How much longer”?
The questions are endless.
Then the big-one . . . The question to end all questions . . . The grand-daddy of them all . . .
Are You Prepared?
The Penn State University scandal is a situation that we all must pay attention to and learn from. I will not be writing an Op-Ed piece, nor passing judgment in this brief column. Rather, I encourage all coaches, administrators, teachers . . . anyone that is reading this to take heed and examine how you would handle this kind of situation. More importantly, how would you handle other situations that may be once in a lifetime situations.
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