Link for the U of A Newsletter – September 2010.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NEWSLETTER  SEPTEMBER 2010

To join the newsletter list please email UA Basketball Assistant Director of Basketball Operations Jeff Feld at feld@arizona.edu to be added to the list. or visit our website each month for a copy.

Perseverance pays off for student manager

Steve Megargee
Rivals.com College Basketball

With the confidence of a coach and the passion of a preacher, Zach Lipson has spent much of his teenage years telling anyone he meets about his plans to join one of the nation’s elite college basketball programs.

It didn’t matter to him that he’d never played a minute of organized hoops. Or that he stood little chance of ever being more than 4 feet tall. He still gave the same speech to just about everyone he met, whether he was chatting at a dinner table full of strangers or sitting across from a skeptical guidance counselor.

He was born with a spinal deformity, so he already had overcome long odds. What was to stop this Nashville resident from proving people wrong once again?

Zachary Lipson's passion has him headed to Kentucky as part of the basketball program.

Lipson’s story proved inspirational enough to earn him a spot as a student-manager at Kentucky. He is expected to live at Wildcat Lodge – the same building that houses the players.

That represents a stunning turn of events for someone who has overcome more obstacles in his 19 years than most people face in their lives.

Lipson was born eight weeks premature and weighed less than 2 pounds. He required CPR in the delivery room. He has undergone more than 30 surgeries. And if that weren’t enough to make him curse fate, Lipson also has a twin brother who is healthy. Lipson doesn’t need to wonder what might have been: He has a walking reminder in his home.

Lipson has resisted the temptation of self-pity. He instead has faced every challenge with the same upbeat approach that has helped him serve as an inspiration to friends, family members and classmates. Kentucky’s latest recruit won’t develop into the next Tony Delk, but he just might become the next Tony Robbins.

That represents a stunning turn of events for someone who has overcome more obstacles in his 19 years than most people face in their lives.

Lipson was born eight weeks premature and weighed less than 2 pounds. He required CPR in the delivery room. He has undergone more than 30 surgeries. And if that weren’t enough to make him curse fate, Lipson also has a twin brother who is healthy. Lipson doesn’t need to wonder what might have been: He has a walking reminder in his home.

Lipson has resisted the temptation of self-pity. He instead has faced every challenge with the same upbeat approach that has helped him serve as an inspiration to friends, family members and classmates. Kentucky’s latest recruit won’t develop into the next Tony Delk, but he just might become the next Tony Robbins.

“I wouldn’t be the speaker I am today without my deformities,” Lipson said. “I’ve used them to make myself a stronger human being. That’s a very radical idea. That’s how I want to be an inspiration to people.

“I want to tell people you don’t have to fall and beat yourself up over your problems. You can take them and help them make you stronger. You can turn a losing situation into a winning situation.”

Born to inspire

He wasn’t always this upbeat. Lipson remembers being teased by grade-school classmates who didn’t know any better, and he occasionally would look at his brother and wonder why he couldn’t be blessed with a healthy body.

	Former Vanderbilt star Drew Maddux calls Zachary Lipson a student assistant coach.

The turning point came when he was in first grade. Lipson, a devout Christian, had an epiphany. He was in a hospital room when he started to understand how he could make the most of his situation.

“I learned humility at that point in my life,” Lipson said. “I realized my true purpose here on Earth is to share the gospel, to share my story and to be an inspiration to people.”

That’s when it dawned on Lipson that he wouldn’t get to live an average life. He was being called to do much, much more. He would tell his story to anyone who would listen. He doesn’t consider anyone a stranger.

“I noticed when we go to places, if we were sitting at a table, he’d end up not sitting at our table,” said Lipson’s mother, Susan. “He’d be sitting at a table with people who he didn’t even know. He’d get to know them, talk to them, encourage them. They’d say, ‘Wow, what an amazing story. I can’t believe what he’s been through.’ ”

He eventually found a way to spread his message through sports. Lipson grew up hating athletics because his health problems prevented him from playing organized sports or from joining his classmates in playground activities. His attitude changed after he took over as a student-manager for the football team at Christ Presbyterian Academy, the Nashville school he attends.

He caught on so well that he also became the student-manager for the basketball and soccer teams. And he made himself into the best manager a school could possibly have.

When a coach wanted him to do something during a game, Lipson would sprint to wherever he needed to be. He commanded such respect that CPA basketball coach Drew Maddux never called Lipson a manager and instead labeled him a “student assistant coach.”

“He’s like one of my sons,” said Maddux, who played basketball for Vanderbilt from 1994-98. “I’ve really grown to love Zach.”

Not only did Lipson perform the typical managerial responsibilities of fetching water and collecting equipment, he also gave locker-room speeches and even assisted Maddux in advance scouting.

Lipson’s pep talks were so legendary in the Nashville high school ranks that officials at rival school David Lipscomb High asked him to give an inspirational speech to their entire student body.

Bleeding blue

Lipson fell in love with his manager jobs so much that he wanted to continue on what he considered the best and biggest stage of all – the University of Kentucky. But he considered this goal more than just a dream; he saw it as his destiny.

“People describe me as a passionate person,” Lipson said. “I have such a love of life. What better basketball program than the University of Kentucky, which has so much tradition and passion? I think that’s what was drawing me there.”  Lipson speaks with the authority of someone twice his age. He’s a history enthusiast who has treasured the opportunity to visit more than 25 countries. He’s teaching himself to read and write in Russian. How many other teenagers would discuss leadership by referring to Napoleon’s attack in the Siege of Toulon?

But for all his obvious intelligence, Lipson still lacked the necessary grades and test scores to get into Kentucky as an out-of-state student. In fact, when he mentioned his goal to a college counselor, she indicated that wasn’t a realistic possibility.

“She said he needed to look at Plan B,” Susan Lipson said. “Well, there was no Plan B for him. I saw how he took his knuckles, gripped his chair and said, ‘I will go to Kentucky.’ ”

Lipson did everything in his power to improve his grades. He spent his lunch hour studying in his school’s locker room and took countless hours of ACT preparatory courses. All that extra work allowed him to qualify academically. Then, a remarkable chain of events brought his goal within reach.

Kentucky fired former coach Billy Gillispie after the 2008-09 season and replaced him with John Calipari, who in turn hired Martin Newton as the school’s director of basketball operations. Maddux’s father, Ray, and Newton’s father, former Vanderbilt basketball coach and Kentucky athletic director C.M. Newton, were friends and had helped found “The Rebounders,” a club for former Vanderbilt basketball lettermen.

In addition, before being hired at Kentucky, Martin Newton had worked for Nike alongside Tim Thompson, a former Vanderbilt player and one of Maddux’s closest friends.

Maddux used his connections to get Lipson an opportunity to work at Kentucky’s basketball camps last summer. Lipson wasted no time making a name for himself with his work habits and his indefatigable spirit.

“I had never been to Lexington,” Lipson said. “I didn’t know anyone. I was a little … not shy but a little afraid and nervous because I’d never been to the campus before. But I worked, helped out in the team camps and put my name out there.”

Lipson apparently made quite an impact. Kentucky utilizes about six to eight student-managers each season and annually receives at least 50 applications for those positions. Lipson’s application stood out.

“Zach’s story is a unique one, not only because of what he’s overcome in life but also because of his passion for Kentucky basketball,” Newton said. “This is a young man who absolutely loves University of Kentucky basketball. He lives in Nashville. His mentor is Drew Maddux, a guy who played at Vanderbilt. Yet it never squelched his passion for Kentucky basketball.

“The combination of the type of person he is, the things he’s overcome and his passion for Kentucky made it a really easy choice.”

Student-managers are an integral part of just about every program across the country, but that’s particularly true at Kentucky, where longtime equipment manager Bill Keightley played such a vital role that an honorary jersey in his name hangs from the Rupp Arena rafters.

The student-managers work the same hours as the players. They’re present for team practices and weightlifting sessions as well as participating in more menial activities such as laundry duty.

Lipson is ready to perform these tasks to the best of his ability, but he also believes he can offer something extra. He wants to encourage Kentucky’s players and his fellow classmates the same way he has inspired just about everyone else he has met.

“The biggest thing I’m looking forward to is working with people,” Lipson said. “I feel like I’m going to be a big impact in their lives. I’m going to influence the way they think and look at things. I can show someone a positive influence.”

And if Calipari ever needs someone to help out with a pep talk, he won’t have far to look. He need only turn to his new manager, who can go into painstaking detail on how various financial moguls made their fortunes or discuss the personal traits that caused Winston Churchill to succeed and Adolf Hitler to fail.

Better yet, he simply can tell the story about his improbable path to Lexington.

Link for the U of A Newsletter – August 2010.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NEWSLETTER  AUGUST 2010

To join the newsletter list please email seanmiller@arizona.edu, or visit our website each month for a copy.

By Dana O’Neil  ESPN.com

The image of college basketball has taken a beating in recent years, with rumors, murmurs and innuendo about cheating spreading like wildfire. Cynics believe no one is trying to follow the NCAA rulebook and that the game has fallen victim to the begging hands of agents, runners and hangers-on looking to collect on the next NBA star.

Is it that bad? What are the real problems? And is the NCAA doing enough to fix those problems?

To get the answers, ESPN.com went to the sources. During the EYBL Peach Jam last week, we interviewed 20 high-profile head coaches, representing each of the six power conferences. With the promise of full anonymity, we asked them to tell the truth about their sport.

And they did.

What is your least favorite part of summer recruiting?

No one likes the constant travel, the bad basketball and the emphasis on individual skills instead of team play.

Coaches travel everywhere to watch high school kids in July, but can’t keep an eye on their own.

But of the coaches surveyed, many — eight of the 20 — cited the time away from campus and their own players as the biggest problem with the summertime.

“I have my team over for a barbecue before I leave in July,” one coach said. “Little do they know it’s a farewell, not a welcome barbecue.”

“You walk into a living room and promise a mother that you’ll be there for her son,” said another. “And as soon as they get on campus, you’re gone.”

“They’re all on campus and I’m on the road,” added another. “If they do something stupid, I’m going to get fired — but I can’t be there to see what they’re doing.”

Some other popular grievances:

“What don’t I like? All of it. I don’t think there should be summer recruiting, period. They want to clean it up? Get rid of it.”

“I’ll tell you another problem — 70 percent of the kids we’re sitting here watching should be in summer school. They shouldn’t be here.”

“What don’t I like about summer? Everything. The babysitting, the ass-kissing. Does that cover it?”

If you could change, add or delete one rule in the NCAA Manual, what would it be?

Like the endless rulebook, the suggestions here were endless. In fact, there were so many opinions that it was impossible to get any sort of consensus.

One coach even offered a sweeping renovation: “All of it. Get rid of the whole thing. There are so many stupid rules in that thing that you can’t enforce. We need to throw it away.”

The hottest topics?

• April recruiting: In 2009, the NCAA board accepted a proposal from the Basketball Issues Committee to prevent college coaches from evaluating prospects in April, unless the prospects are on a high school, prep school or junior college campus. The idea was to keep high school kids in school.

“That passed with 60 percent of the vote,” one coach said. “Where are all those people who were in favor of eliminating it?”

Apparently overruled, because no one seems happy that the spring evaluation period essentially has been eliminated.

“They stopped it because they didn’t want the kids out of school,” one coach said. “Well, they’re still having the events, so why can’t we go?”

“Give me April and time in July off the road so I can be with my players,” another said, combining the two biggest complaints. “Everyone likes to talk about the APR [Academic Progress Rate] and they want to hold us accountable for the APR. Well, let me be on campus in the summer when my guys are getting started. Let me make sure they get off on the right foot.”

• Phone calls: In an age of immediate technology, most everyone agreed that the limit on phone calls was laughable, though there was one dissenter who said, “To me, your brain is like this [making a fist] and with enough phone calls to a kid, you can mold that brain by twisting it and turning it with the information.”

That coach, however, was a lone wolf screaming in the wind.

“Everyone has caller ID; everyone has unlimited texting. If you don’t want to talk to me, hit ignore. I hit ignore all the time.”

“I get a kick out of the phone calls. Who gets caught with that anymore? It’s a joke. They’re out there catching the guy with the one phone. How about the guy with two and three bat phones?”

While recruiting, coaches better keep their eye on the court and steer clear of the players.

• The so-called bump rule: Back in the day, summer league games ended with an on-court receiving line, with coaches lined up to glad-hand and talk to the prospects and their coaches.

It got so ridiculous that the NCAA decided to make the summer an evaluation-only period. That means no talking at all, as in no hello in a crowded hallway.

“We have the NCAA gestapettes around here like World Cup officials,” one coach said, referring to the NCAA representatives — most of whom are women — who monitor the summer circuit. “You smile at a kid, they give you a yellow card. Do it twice, it’s a red card and you’re off the road.”

How many of your peers do you trust?

Let’s put it this way: There is more honor in politics. Here’s the breakdown:

• Eight said flat-out no, they do not trust their peers.

“No, not at all. Maybe some of it is hearsay, but I don’t trust them at all.”

• Five said they trust fewer than 10 of their colleagues.

“How many? Five,” one coach said. Five percent? “No, five total,” he said. “And those five are my assistants.”

• Three said they actually have faith in their fellow coaches and trust “most.”

“I’d say 95 percent. There have been very few times in my career where someone did something absolutely underhanded to me. It’s happened, but not a lot.”

• One said 50 percent with a caveat.

“Half, but maybe I’m overly optimistic.”

• One dodged the question.

“That’s a loaded question. I think at heart, coaches are in it for the right reason. But I also know that everyone is trying to gain an advantage.”

• One evaded it.

“I would say I respect everybody because I know how hard they work.”

• One gave an answer within a non-answer.

College coaches generally play nice in public, but apparently don’t trust each other much privately.

“Well, everybody talks about you. You do this long enough, someone is going to say something bad about you. Last year someone said I didn’t go to practice.”

The one thing everyone agreed on: The lack of trust is disheartening.

“I would send my kid to play for seven coaches,” another said, before going on to name them. Those names, however, could compromise his identity, so they won’t be revealed here.

“It’s sad,” another coach said. “I grew up in this game with an idea of what I thought it was or what I thought it should be. Now I see it’s not like that at all. You have low- to mid-major guys aspiring to move up who will do anything to get there and you have guys who, once they get used to a certain lifestyle, will do whatever it takes to keep it.”

“There’s less of a brotherhood here than there is in football and that bothers me,” another added. “We have more guys stabbing each other in the back or using you guys [the media] to go after their agenda. That’s a big problem.”

How many programs do you think are committing major violations? Secondary? And why does no one snitch?

Here’s the silver lining for college basketball: Virtually every coach thinks that the majority of Division I programs are not intentionally breaking major rules. Of the 20, only four said 25 percent or more of the programs were, in the words of one coach, “committing felonies.”

“I had a question about e-mailing a kid and I asked another coach,” someone explained. “He thought we could; I thought we couldn’t. We both called our compliance directors and got two different answers.”

So why, then, do most people think college basketball is like the Wild Wild West, full of outlaws and renegades?

Backstabbing.

“Here’s what I think happens a lot — a team loses a kid to someone else and all of a sudden that someone else is cheating. Every time North Carolina loses a kid, someone else is cheating. It’s like there’s so much arrogance with them; they can’t believe someone would rather go somewhere else, so the other team has to be cheating.”

“I had a question about e-mailing a kid and I asked another coach. He thought we could; I thought we couldn’t. We both called our compliance directors and got two different answers.

Those who have been around the game the longest will tell you cheating has been going on as long as the game has been played.

“In the old days, the coaches had bird dogs. A guy would walk in a gym and you knew, ‘OK, he’s working for Frank McGuire; he’s working for Al McGuire.’ But funny enough, there was almost an honor in the fact that it was so out in the open. Now you don’t know who the bad guys are.”

Indeed, most everyone agrees that the cheaters have become far more nuanced. Gone are the days of the bags of money; in their place are people inventing ways to circumvent the meaning of a rule.

“I know guys help a kid get into a school that’s not really a school. Is it breaking a rule? Technically, no. Is it on the up and up? Absolutely not. I don’t think guys are climbing in windows and changing grades, but they are massaging things to make it easier for kids.”

“One of my players [who left early for the draft] was working out with another top-five draft pick,” a coach said. “They got to talking and my kid said something about not having money or whatever on campus. The other kid said, ‘My coach set up expense accounts all over town for me. Yours didn’t?”’

So with so much information on teams, why doesn’t anyone snitch?

“If you snitch, you’re Abar Rouse [the former Baylor assistant who taped the phone conversation with then-coach Dave Bliss and has since been ostracized from coaching]. That’s why no one talks. Plus, how do you prove it? I know stuff. I know stuff that is 100 percent happening right now, but the NCAA wants proof. How can I prove it?”

Which league is the cleanest? The dirtiest?

Congratulations, Jim Delany. Your league wins in a landslide. Of the 20 coaches surveyed, 11 said the Big Ten was the cleanest in the country. Three others cited the land where time stood still, also known as the scholarship-less Ivy League. (Although even the Ancient Eight earned one disparaging nod: “The Ivy League,” one coach said before pausing to add, “I mean the Ivy League a couple of years ago, before all of that stuff at Harvard.”)

But coaches cited the Big Ten’s perceived willingness to police itself and rosters that “made sense,” in which players traditionally come from the footprint of the schools they choose to attend.

“Look at Michigan State,” one coach said. “They’re there every year. When you see the dips, then you wonder. What happened? What didn’t happen? But a guy like Tom Izzo, he’s there every year because you know what his program is about and so do his players. There’s a consistency and an integrity.”

The SEC has made an effort to clean itself up, but its perception among coaches is still not favorable.

As for the dirtiest, despite Mike Slive’s best efforts to clean up the image, the Southeastern Conference was perceived as the worst, with three coaches partnering the SEC with the Big East and another tossing in the Big 12 (one coach went league-by-league, counting up schools). All in all, the SEC was named by 14 of the coaches.

“Oh no, it’s not just a myth,” one coach said about the SEC. “It’s the truth.”

Others weren’t so sure, however.

“Everyone says the SEC, but that’s because of [the] football thing,” said one coach. “That’s the standard answer, but I’m not sure it’s true.”

Added another: “The perception is the SEC doesn’t have a good reputation. I don’t know if that’s legit or fair. I was on the other side 10 years ago. If a program starts getting better, starts getting kids, the question is always the same: What’s he doing? He’s gotta be doing something. And that adds to the perception.”

One longtime coach said the image is slowly getting repaired.

“I do think by hiring guys like Anthony Grant at Alabama, the SEC is on the right track to cleaning things up.”

If you could land a top-five player but had to break a major rule to do it — knowing there was a zero percent chance of getting caught — would you?

This interesting ethical/moral question brought out a lot of interesting answers.

Only one coach hinted that he would consider it, asking: “Where am I in my career? It’s a risk-reward. If you’re at the beginning of your career or at the end of your contract, you might take the risk.”

And one other admitted, “Now would I break a minor rule? A secondary? Yes, absolutely.”

Everyone else said absolutely no way they would take the devil trade (though, naturally, everyone agreed that someone else would and has).

But here’s where it gets interesting. Six coaches said they wouldn’t do it because they couldn’t look at themselves in the mirror or because they wouldn’t knowingly break a rule, regardless of the outcome.

Most everyone else?

The rationale went like this: “You can’t coach him,” one coach explained. “He’d always have something over you, so how do you make him practice hard? How do you make him go to class?”

Or they pointed to strict liability, which means a head coach can be fired for the transgression of an assistant, or new contractual clauses as deterrents.

“A lot of universities now have clauses where, if you’re found guilty of a major violation, you have to pay for any costs incurred from the investigation,” a coach said. “You start adding up lawyer costs and that will stop people.”

Are rules being broken here this week at Peach Jam?

The simple answer: Yes. The more complicated: Define “rules.”

Only two coaches thought something truly nefarious was happening on the Georgia/South Carolina border.

“I may bump into a coach at a hotel and say hello,” said one, “but I also know there are people who purposely stay in a hotel because a team is there. That’s shady.”

“Are there meetings going on in hotels right now? Absolutely. The deals and plans are being hatched.”

Everyone else thought it was of the minor violation type — i.e., saying hello to a recruit in the hallway or his parents in a restaurant.

However, the silly bump rule can get downright dirty if taken to the extreme. Most of the NCAA reps are women, and women can’t go into men’s rooms. There’s a real paranoia that some coaches are following prospects or their coaches or parents into the restrooms to broker deals.

“I don’t know. I’ve never won a recruit in the bathroom,” one coach said. “Maybe I need to pee more.”

How often during the recruitment of a player does someone — a coach, a parent, someone else — ask for something in return? How does it happen?

Here’s where it really gets ugly. This hasn’t happened to every coach (12 said they’ve faced it directly), but all 20 of them know it goes on.

While at tournaments, coaches attempt to evaluate but often run into people with their hands out.

“It happened to me this morning,” one coach said. “I had a guy try to hand me a résumé, get them a job.”

Sometimes it’s subtle; sometimes it’s overt, but the implication is understood — if you want to recruit my player/son, you’ll need to take care of me first.

“It will start off as, ‘You know, he’s had a part-time job and now that he’s going to college, I won’t have that income … what can you do to help me?”’ one coach said. “Or it’s, ‘I’ve never missed one of his games. How am I going to afford to travel to see him play now?”’

“I almost cringe when I have a job opening,” another coach said. “Here it comes. I used to get calls from other coaches. Now it’s AAU coaches, trying to place their guys.”

No one admitted to completing the transaction, yet all 20 said they lost a player because they chose not to complete the transaction.

“I think a lot of times they’re just floating it out there, see if you’ll bite,” another coach said. “But you know what? If you don’t, someone else might.”

What is the biggest problem facing college basketball?

Finally, 100 percent consensus: It’s agents and runners. Not only are they sullying the game, but they’re also changing the way players look at their college careers.

That’s no news flash. Agents have long been considered the boogeyman of college athletics. What’s interesting? How they’re doing business:

• Loans or lines of credit: “Say you’ve got a top-10 kid but you don’t have a lot of money,” one coach explained. “The agent will get a line of credit through his financial adviser for you in your name. When your kid goes pro, you pay it back.”

• Prepaid debit cards: Slightly different than a loan, these allow an agent to offer a constant stream of cash by giving a prospect or a prospect’s family member a card with a cash value that can be constantly stuffed with more money, not unlike an actual bank account. The kicker: As of now, the NCAA has no way of tracking the transaction.

“That’s the latest one I’ve heard,” said one coach.

• Tying in to a summer league program: Numerous coaches said that agents now have ties to specific summer league teams and that the people serving as coaches are actually already agents’ runners.

Another coach, who recently coached a top-five draft pick, said that every agent who came to sign his player offered the same thing: “If you sign with me, I’ll deliver you this guy and that guy. Every single one of them is tied to an AAU team. Every one. They cook the deal with the AAU coach. He gets the kid on campus and then cuts a cut.”

• Hiring parents as “consultants”: Shoe companies sponsor virtually every summer league team. The team wears the shoe company’s gear and plays in the shoe company’s sanctioned events.

“I’ve heard of shoe companies hiring parents at ridiculous salaries as their consultants,” one coach said. “Parents are making a big comeback. They look at their children as property or dollar signs, not children. They all see the big cashout.”

The big cashout, of course, is the NBA, the albatross hanging around many a coach’s neck. Hemmed in by the league’s age limit, many coaches are wondering what exactly they’re doing for a living.

“Parents are making a big comeback. They look at their children as property or dollar signs, not children.

“We don’t coach anymore,” one coach said. “This job isn’t about coaching. It’s about acquiring talent.”

“What’s happening at Kentucky, all these one-and-dones, that’s not good for our game,” another added.

Indeed, many coaches thought that the one-and-done rule has diminished the value of a college career — even a one-year college career. They point to players who are more concerned with their individual stats or who are so preoccupied with their future, they aren’t paying attention to their present.

“I told a kid recently, ‘If you say NBA one more time I’m walking out the door,”’ a coach said. “If you’re good enough, you’ll leave after one year or two years or three years. I’m here to talk to you about coming to college and playing for me. I had six kids leave early. The ones who were all-in went [top 10]; the ones who had one foot out the door went late.”

Do you have faith in the NCAA to monitor and control college basketball?

Sort of.

All but three coaches thought the NCAA was at least trying to get a handle on the problems of college basketball. The catch? No one thought it could succeed.

“They’re trying,” said one coach, echoing the sentiments of the majority. “But no matter what the rule, people are going to cheat and the problem is, the best of the best, you’re never going to catch them.”

The coaches interviewed didn’t seem to have a whole lot of confidence in the NCAA.

Coaches pointed to an unfair numbers advantage — more coaches than NCAA investigators — and a savvier coaching fraternity as the top problems.

And others thought the organization was little more than a bureaucratic hypocrisy.

“The NCAA is stealing money from television and they don’t want to kill the golden goose,” one said. “Look at the people on the NCAA committees. The guys who are doing things the right way, they aren’t on the NCAA committees. Why is that?”

There’s also an interesting gender dynamic at work. As noted earlier, almost all of the NCAA investigators are women and they are policing a man’s game. That doesn’t go unnoticed by the coaches, nor does it help the investigators get taken seriously all the time.

Along with the coach who called the women, “the gestapettes,” another said, “If the NCAA was serious, they’d hire someone who knew what they were doing, not these women out here trying to get a husband.”

Are you optimistic/pessimistic about the game?

Mixed bag here. Most coaches (15 of 20) thought the game was more scrutinized and regulated than it’s ever been and believe that the sport is on its way to redemption. Yet even they concede there are major problems with college basketball’s image and its actions.

“I think there are more good than bad out there,” one coach said. “But if you keep saying something, people believe it and we keep saying it. Things have been going on for 50 years and they’ll be going on 50 years from now, but we make it seem like it’s the worst it’s ever been now. I don’t think so. I don’t know if the game has ever been better or the competition has ever been better.”

Others, however, were far more pessimistic.

They see coaches perceived as rulebreakers being rehired — and the NCAA, in their opinion, is doing little to stop them.

“I sometimes wonder, ‘Can I survive in this profession without compromising who I am?”’ one said. “I’m not sure about that answer and it really disappoints me.”

Added another: “I know this: I’m glad I’m not 40 and just getting started in this business. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I would say I’m a little more pessimistic about things than I was a few years ago. It just seems like we can’t stop it. The bad guys keep winning.”

ANTON MARCHAND

For those that haven’t been up around NYC, especially in Brooklyn… you are missing out.  You have to swing through and see the Rose Classic at JHS 113 on Adelphi Avenue and Anton Marchand.

You can read all about the history, the players and the exceptional things Anton is doing for that community is the Daily News articles below.

ROSE CLASSIC ARTICLES.

Gary Colson

Coach Colson has shared another good one with us.

From Gary Colson:

Mr.George Raveling( VP FOR NIKE) gave me a booklet that said:

“AS A LEADER EVERY THING COUNTS”.

Question: What or who is a LEADER?

Answer: Most everyone is a leader in some form or other.

What do we mean when we say everything counts?  My idea is that everyone is a good solid 10 on a ten scale …..you can only go down or repent and come back up.

Examples:

1.  If you are always late…that counts.

2.  If you make promises and you break them …that counts.

3.  If you lie…that counts.

4.  If you are rude…that counts

5.  If you are narcissistic (only care about yourself)…that counts.

6.  If you are moody…that counts.

7.  If you have bad, unhealthy habits…that counts.

8.  If you have bad hygiene….that counts.

Quick personal story..I have had several leaders (bosses) but I remember one in particular who started out with a 10 and after a few years was a 3.

Reason??? he lied,he was narcissistic,he made false promises,he cheated etc.

The other LEADER  I have in mind was a 10 and after several years he was still a solid 10…he was JERRY WEST.

OK NOW WHAT?? There are a lot of good leaders out here and a lot of bad leaders but whoever you are remember….”everything counts,” So it is not too late to make some changes and get back to a TEN.

Good luck and get some help by getting people to rate you on a scale from 1-10.  It might surprise you where you stand,   My reason for writing this is that I am sick and tired of the bad leaders.

I think we can ALL relate to this experience.  Coach Colson’s wisdom and experience speaks volumes.  Thanks Coach!

Link for the U of A Newsletter – July 2010.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NEWSLETTER JULY 2010

To join the newsletter list please email seanmiller@arizona.edu, or visit our website each month for a copy.

Investor’s Business Daily has spent years analyzing leaders and successful people in all walks of life.

Most have 10 traits that, when combined, can turn dreams into reality.

1            HOW YOU THINK IS EVERYTHING:

Always be positive. Think success, not failure. Beware of a negative environment.

2            DECIDE UPON YOUR TRUE DREAMS AND GOALS:

Write down your specific goals and develop a plan to reach them.

3            TAKE ACTION:

Goals are nothing without action. Don’t be afraid to get started. Just do it.

4            NEVER STOP LEARNING:

Go back to school or read books. Get training and acquire skills.

5            BE PERSISTENT AND WORK HARD:

Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Never give up.

6            LEARN TO ANALYZE DETAILS:

Get all the facts, all the input. Learn from your mistakes.

7            FOCUS YOUR TIME AND MONEY:

Don’t let other people or things distract you.

8            DON’T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT:

Following the herd is a sure way to mediocrity.

9            DEAL AND COMMUNICATE WITH PEOPLE EFFECTIVELY:

No person is an island. Learn to understand and motivate others.

10            BE HONEST AND DEPENDABLE; TAKE RESPONSIBILITY:

Otherwise, Nos. 1-9 won’t matter.

DON’T BE AFRAID TO INNOVATE; BE DIFFERENT

Target New Approaches

By Cord Cooper

Firms eyeing new markets could learn from the Missouri Partnership — a public-private sector alliance luring business to the Show-Me State.

Among key lessons:

• Define. Marketing is one of the partnership’s key goals — “changing the image of Missouri, not just as a place to do business but a place to live and grow,” Chris Chung, CEO of the Missouri Partnership, told IBD. “It’s a state that’s suffered from an absence of identity, and our goal is to define it in positive ways — in everything from print to electronic media.”

His goal? “Tightly target our audience to specific firms and industries. In addition to media ads, we get on the ground with face-to-face contact — building relationships with leading execs. That means exhibiting at select trade shows, sponsoring conferences within key industries, and hosting hospitality events.” He calls his two-winged approach “the air game and the ground game. The air game is paid media; the ground game is building face-to-face relationships.”

• Lay it out. He targets markets “where there’s a strong concentration of company headquarters — with execs in a position to channel expansion money,” he said. He then hits “mainstream business publications in those markets. We advertise in airline magazines as well as local metro business journals.”

• Align. Chung zeros in on growth industries — from renewable energy to biotechnology. The latter “includes veterinary sciences and animal health, targeting the farming and recreational industries — big markets in the western part of the state,” he said. Another example: the human medicine sector, highlighting industry near St. Louis. “We’re also looking to boost agricultural production on limited land — maximizing output.”

• Raise the profile. When possible, he recruits Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon as a “chief salesperson here and overseas,” he said. “A state governor can gain entry into foreign markets that other officials can’t. An appearance when U.S. execs visit the state is also influential.”

• Get out front. Some states confine business recruitment to the public sector. “Our private-public sector partnership opens more opportunities, with more creative approaches,” Chung said. The partnership’s a top state marketing effort because of consistency in advertising and culling business relationships. “That keeps us in the forefront of targeted markets.”

• Think long term. With budget challenges, some states have cut back on marketing. Yet their budgets depend on new business, leading to more workers paying for goods and services.

“Recruiting business is vital,” Chung said. “Right now we have 80 projects in some stage of consideration by key firms and industries.”

• Sell it. When negotiating with firms, “we stay in the game longer — and get more deals — because we have a strong sales force,” said Chung. “They position Missouri as an ideal solution.”

• Embrace. Thanks to Missouri’s private-sector involvement, “the range of markets and contacts is wider, and the results are greater,” said David Kerr, board member of the Hawthorn Foundation, a private-public sector association that founded the partnership.

Link for the U of A Newsletter – June 2010.

UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA NEWSLETTER JUNE 2010

Kevin Durant

During the time away, I read an article in the USA Today on The Oklahome City Thunder and Kevin Durant, Durant drives Thunderous resurgence in Oklahoma City.

I never knew Durant was like that, not at all.  I assumed he was another young, ego guy.  My apologies.  The article continues to help convince me that it is more and more about “Who is on the bus,” as the Good to Great book by Jim Collins says.  (*Good to Great is a fantastic book to use as a team reading.  If you do it, email me at ideas@allbasketballreview.com and I will send you the team follow up questions I used with our team after they read it.  It went really well for us.)

Enjoy the article…

OKLAHOMA CITY — Kevin Durant shakes his head in disbelief at the thought of his name in the MVP conversation.

“It’s surreal to me,” the third-year OklahomaCity Thunder forward says.

“Growing up, I never thought I could be the best player in my area, let alone make it to college and be one of the best players there. I never thought I could make it to the NBA. … Players like me come a dime a dozen is basically what I was thinking.”

Durant, at 21 the youngest to lead the NBA in scoring average (30.1 points), is a major reason for the Thunder’s turnaround from 23 wins in 2008-09 after relocating from Seattle (where they were the SuperSonics) to 50.

“Guys don’t have egos,” Durant said. “Everybody came in like that from Day One. It wasn’t about I and me. It was about us and team. I have faith in that.”

The Thunder face the defending champion Los Angeles Lakersin the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Game 2 is Tuesday (10:30 p.m. ET).

The matchup features the old guard, Kobe Bryant, vs. the new forward, Durant. The Lakers won the season series 3-1, but the Thunder won the last meeting 91-75 on March 26.

Humility and selflessness are two cornerstones of Oklahoma City’s success, and it begins with general manager Sam Presti, 33, the executive hired by the SuperSonics in 2007.

Presti came in with a bold vision to reshape the organization. He sought hardworking, high-character, low-maintenance athletes who love to play and sacrifice individual achievements for team success.

Presti is determined to populate not only his roster but his organization with high-character individuals, including the team chef and practice facility janitor. Presti interviews everyone hired.

“We again really try to focus on the things that are important to our organization and our ability to build a team that can be sustainable,” he says.

And he has had the discipline to stick with his plan even in the midst of last season’s 3-29 start.

“You’re not entitled to anything. You have to go through the process, and there’s a lot of ups and downs,” Presti says. “How you respond to the successes and the adversities are important to your ability to sustain it.”

Strong values — resiliency in the face of adversity especially — resonate with the people of Oklahoma City and the state.

“The spoiled superstar brat wouldn’t get far in Oklahoma City,” Mayor Mick Cornett says. “We’re very value-conscious. Our city was settled in a land run. Those 10,000 people were desperate for a better life.”

Cornett says the Thunder have helped revamp the city’s image, which previously was branded with tornadoes and the 1995 bombing.

Coincidentally, Cornett says, it took Hurricane Katrina for people to realize basketball could be a success. While temporarily displaced, the New Orleans Hornets played two seasons here.

“This city knows tragedy,” Cornett says. “We turned around and helped another community that needed help. Oklahoma City would have never been on the top of anyone’s relocation list.”

The Thunder average 17,995 fans in 18,203-capacity Ford Center, and the atmosphere sometimes resembles a college game’s. Fans don’t sit until the Thunder score, and one side of the arena will chant “O” and the other side “Thunder.”

Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys football dominate, but, Cornett says, “College allegiances split us. The Thunder are the one thing everyone can root for.”

Smart GM work plus luck

Presti looks like he just stepped out of a Banana Republic ad, and he has a résumé that is just as polished: education and basketball at Emerson College in Boston, a Rhodes Scholar nomination, a front office job in 2000 with the San Antonio Spurs.

Presti drafted Durant during his first year with Seattle but also began with unpopular decisions, trading fan favorite Ray Allen to the Boston Celtics for draft pick Jeff Green (who has turned into a valuable component) and trading Rashard Lewis for what amounted to three first-round draft picks while creating salary-cap space.

He drafted point guard Russell Westbrook and reserve big man Serge Ibaka in 2008 and guard James Harden in 2009, traded for defender Thabo Sefolosha and signed center Nenad Krstic.

Presti has built a young team. Not one regular has more than six years of NBA experience, and no starter is older than 26.

Listening to Presti is like attending a business leadership seminar. He has his aphorisms: “We looked at development as a process and not an event.”

Thunder coach Scott Brooks says Presti is an incredible thinker, and Durant says he is a genius. Those are labels Presti declines. “The credit goes to the players and certainly the coaches for working with them,” he says.

In Brooks, Presti found a coach able to carry out the franchise’s plan on the court: defense and rebounding come first. A 10-year NBA journeyman, Brooks, 44, was named interim coach when the Thunder fired P.J. Carlesimoafter a 1-12 start last season. It didn’t get much better under Brooks right away.

“When you go through adversity with somebody like we did last year going through a tough year, him being an interim coach, you learn a lot about people,” Presti says.

Presti discovered the players listened and responded to Brooks. From Dec. 30 until the end of last season, the Thunder were 20-30.

“Of course you’re going to get frustrated about losses. It’s about coming in every day and not letting the losses affect how hard you work,” Durant says.

Durant sees Presti’s vision. So does Brooks.

Stats bear out priorities

This season, the Thunder rank in the top 10 in rebounding, fast-break points and steals and 11th out of 30 in points allowed.

“You can have great players, but if they don’t want to be coached, what are you going to do?” Brooks says. “You’re going to be frustrated as a coach and you’re going to be frustrated as a team because your better players don’t want to be coached. Our better players want to be coached every day, and that’s not everywhere.”

The Thunder wanted Green to be a more complete player and less of a scorer. They asked Westbrook to come back a better decision-maker. His turnovers are lower, his assists higher. Sefolosha was told he didn’t need to score and was often asked to guard the best perimeter scorer.

“It’s funny that a group of young guys have bought into it so quickly,” Durant says.

It starts with Durant, the face of the franchise. Brooks needed more from Durant — more points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocked shots. Durant delivered with better numbers this season. But it’s his scoring that has overwhelmed opponents.

Lithe at 6-9, 230, Durant is difficult to defend. He scores inside and out, in transition and in halfcourt sets with his soft shot. He also converts at the foul line. No one has taken more free throws than Durant (10.2 a game), and he makes 90%.

From Dec. 22 to Feb. 23, Durant scored 25 or more points in 29 consecutive games, a feat not even last year’s MVP, LeBron James, or Bryant has accomplished. He also led the league with 47 30-plus point games.

The future holds many opportunities. The Thunder are under the salary cap this year and next and have money to re-sign players including Durant, who will make $6 million next season.

But Presti is quick to say, “We don’t have all the answers” and cites luck. He might not have all the answers, but he has some, and he is right about luck.

Where would the Thunder be had the Portland Trail Blazers selected Durant instead of oft-injured center Greg Oden? Oklahoma City has been relatively injury-free. The Thunder started the same lineup 76 times this season.

As baseball executive Branch Rickey once said, luck is the residue of opportunity and design.