Here are 3 Takeaways I wanted to share from attending the “What Drives Winning” Event at Villanova. These lessons were directed towards college coaches, but I think they can be applied to player development coaches and players as well. 1. Be Your True Authentic Self Early at Hofstra, Jay Wright was losing and almost got fired. He thought he was doing everything right as he was doing exactly what his legendary mentors Rollie Massimino and Pat Riley did to run their teams, but it wasn’t working. He decided that if he was going to get fired, he was going to give it one last shot coaching how he believes he should coach. Not in a selfish way, but everyone leads differently. What one coach excels at, you might be terrible at. Instead of trying to be a clone of your mentors, learn from them but figure out your own strengths and use them. Once he was able to do this and come up with his core values that he believed in, he was able to get his team to buy in and found success. 2. Detach From Results "Give someone everything they’ve ever wanted and see how miserable they become." Human nature makes us feel satisfied after a win, but you have to fight that comfort. Hold your team to a higher standard regardless of the outcome. You can win games on pure talent without playing with toughness or pride, but that won't help you reach your full potential. Did we play as hard as we could have today? Did we play for each other? Build a standard and hold your guys to it, no matter the results, and embrace the journey. 3. Habits > Motivation Jay admitted he was the worst pre-game speech guy in the world because he believes speeches rlly don't matter that much. Real preparation happens when you battle every day in practice to build elite habits. You can write the greatest pre-game script ever, but ten minutes into the game, guys are going to be tired as shit. When exhaustion hits, motivation goes out the window and players revert to their habits. If you prepare them in the offseason and everyday at practice, that is what will help them in high pressure situations, not a motivational speech.

This week I had an incredible experience helping out Danny with his elite players. I wanted to share 3 key takeaways from the workouts. 1- Handle- I never realized how important dribble timing and the ability to move your feet and the ball in sync matters. Mastering this ability allows you to be intentional with footwork and play with a different level of pace and shiftiness. 2- Gamifying drills- Adding a point system, goals, constraints/incentives, adds a level of pressure to workouts that makes them extra locked in. While there are certainly times to teach and explain concepts or moves, if a workout is fully focused on reps with no pressure attached, intensity and focus will eventually drop. 3- Shooting- It’s so much more than just reps. Your pickup, follow through, landing, ball path, balance, release point, and energy transfer all affect your shot. Grinding out thousands of reps on a broken shot isn’t going to get you to the next level as a shooter. Everyone shoots differently but if you are struggling to get better as a shooter, eliminating variability in your shot and tightening up your mechanics will help you to move the needle if reps aren’t doing it. Oftentimes it’s not “changing” your form, but it’s taking away extra variables to make it more consistent. It can be an uncomfortable and frustrating process, but if you are willing to buy in, it will eventually click and transform your shot. And then once your mechanics are down and you are a good shooter, practicing with contests, percentage goals (ex: 10/12 per spot), challenges that force you to get your shot off quicker, and knocking down shots while tired will be able to transform you from a good shooter to a great shooter. What’s one takeaway you guys have had from your workouts recently?

As a young coach, I’m curious to see what mistakes you guys have made when you were starting out or what mistakes you notice other newer coaches often make? And how did you get better/correct it?

If you were a college scout what are the 3 most important things you are looking for when watching a high schooler play?

Summertime is a hot time for kids to train and really lock in on getting better! What are you guys most excited for this summer? I would have to say the availability opening up a lot more! I love being able to work people out during the day and also at night!