University of Florida Coaches Clinic

I shared the notes from the Coaching U LIVE clinic here last week and hope to share the notes from this one as they become available.  Sadly, I did not attend.  I truly hope to one day.  Invite only clinics and clinics that have the focus this one does are the best.  Back in the late 80′s and early 90′s a group of us used to hand out assignments:  BOB’s, P & R Defense, Specialty Plays, Late Game, etc…, convene at the Final Four, meet in an empty room and go.  It was truly awesome.  Each person was responsible for bringing in enough copies of written material for the group.  Each coach had about an hour, with time for Q & A after.  Sadly, that disintegrated.

The “recruiting” aspect of the Final Four… college guys hanging with AAU guys to solidify the relationship for X player took over and the time for X’s & O’s was prioritized out of the equation.  Everyone said, “We have to do that again.”  It never happens.

Kudos to Coach Shyatt and the Florida staff for keeping it alive and growing the game in a way outside of recruiting.  As they said, the reason why many of us got into it in the first place.

This was a good article on what the clinic is truly all about.

Florida clinic not your usual coaches camp — thankfully

From Gary Parrish…

First thing Monday morning, and Larry Shyatt is standing on the men’s court inside the Florida basketball practice facility, welcoming those who have assembled on this SEC campus to talk hoops in what feels like a genuine and pure environment. There is nothing glamorous here. A white board on the court, folding chairs lining a baseline and sideline, and little more. The room is filled with everybody from future Hall of Famers to junior college coaches, and Shyatt, Billy Donovan’s associate head coach at Florida, has just one instruction before turning things over to Butler’s Brad Stevens.

Matt Painter shares information about the motion offense he has perfected over at Purdue. (Courtesy: Gary Parrish)

“No holding back,” Shyatt said. “If you’re not willing to share, this is not for you.”

What happened next was nice to witness.

The subsequent 14 hours featured one speaker after another — Stevens, NBA icon Del Harris, Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon, Boston Celtics assistant Kevin Eastman, etc., — talking about a variety of subjects, exchanging ideas, discussing, debating and thoroughly enjoying a two-day clinic Shyatt created years ago that continues today thanks to the support of Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley and the willingness of those invited to make time to attend. They talked about transition defense and motion offense, about mental toughness and proper shooting techniques. They talked about how to deal with certain situations in the media, how to handle players who won’t work, what to do with student-athletes’ sometimes embarrassing addiction to Facebook and Twitter, and then they went to bed, awoke early Tuesday, and did it all again.

Continue Reading…

Never under estimate the “Little” guy

I really enjoy stories of perseverance…

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.

What’s wrong with college basketball?

THIS IS REALLY GOOD.  You’ll see, even though it is “anonymous”, it’s still not 100% accurate… but it’s pretty good.  Coaches will still be self-serving and self protective even when being anonymous.  It’s as close as I’ve seen to the “truth” though.

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?”

Continue Reading…

BILLY DONOVAN’S ATTITUDE PLAN

BILLY DONOVAN’S ATTITUDE PLAN

Always making today my best day

Taking pride in a job well done

Treating others with respect

Isolating my negative thoughts

Treating tasks as opportunities

Utilizing my talents every day

Doing the job right the first time

Expecting positive outcomes daily

Speaking well of others every day

2009-10 D1 Men’s Basketball Attendance

Interesting… The Sporting News (Digital Edition) released today all the Men’s Division I basketball attendance figures for the 2009 – 10 season.  There is both the Top 100 individual schools as well as the conference by conference breakdown.

The page is linked below.

Division I Men’s 2009-10 Attendance