The Newcomers

As a coaching staff, we are always eager to view the product of our recruiting efforts. It is actually very frightening to spend hours driving, watching games, evaluating talent, talking on the phone, and hosting campus visits to eventually sign a player on paper who we still truly don't know. Some coaches refer to recruiting like Forrest Gump's statement about opening a box of chocolates. You truly don't know what you get until you open the box or in our case until you get the recruits on campus.

This year we were thrilled when we "opened" our recruiting package. The first visible sign from our recruits was heart. Oh, how the coaching staff loves heart. On the first day of school when we began our challenges, we had a young lady, Caress Williams, who had just signed with us three weeks before school started. She did not have the opportunity to receive our workout packages over the summer, so she just had to gut it out. And gut it out she did! When we did our challenges, we thought about giving her a break and having her do a little less than the rest of the team, but Caress believed in achieving everything her teammates did. The most awesome part was watching her muscles quiver from exhaustion yet pushing through her pain to make the challenges. We knew then she was a winner.

Our next recruit, Julianne Smith, a 6'0" transfer athlete, brings with her a determination which is absolutely incredible. She is so passionate about bringing her best to the table that she spends extra time every day training. We often pass her going to the fitness center or see her in the gym working on her shooting skills. When we asked her to change her foot work on her shot, she changed it within 24 hours. Her determination to succeed is contagious.

The freshmen class brings with it three young players who love the sport of basketball. Lisanne, a Canadian, is one of the few student-athletes we've ever coached who understands how to work on her own with full intensity in game speed placing herself in pressure scenarios. Quite frankly, her focus in individual workouts is amazing. Our other two freshmen, Lakin Horner and Dania Crump, have one thing in common: they are walk-ons. What makes them special is that they do everything every other player does without receiving any scholarship dollars. Most walk-ons quit within the first two weeks of our preseason when they understand how difficult it is. Not only have these two survived the preseason, they have continued to push themselves to higher levels of strength and conditioning.

Our newcomers have surprised us in many ways. When we have uncovered their layers, we have been pleased with what we have discovered. They have brought with them the intangibles that the coaching staff believes are what separates the good from the great: heart, passion, work ethic, determination, and love for the game. When we "opened" this box of recruits, we were thrilled with what we got!

To all the newcomers: IHHOAGE!

Recovery Week

On the fourth week of each preseason, we plan a recovery week where we change the focus of our conditioning and weight training. Instead of timed sprints, we play various games which I learned throughout my athletic career. The Golden Eagles receive a history lesson by playing Yugoslavian and Russian tag, Czechoslovakian and Hungarian dodge ball, and Spanish gator ball. At least I don't make them speak the languages as they learn the games!

The games require the players to sprint, pass, think quickly and play together. In every game there is a penalty for "cherry picking" which means a player is spectating rather than actively hustling. There is also a reward for winning which is resting while the losers run sprints. I can ascertain from these games which players are the ones we want in the game during pressure situations. The ones who pick up the strategy quickly and who understand how to win no matter what the game is are the ones who will show the same intelligence on the basketball court.

I also get to laugh on the sidelines as I watch them dodge, jump, throw, and try to comprehend a new set of rules. Sometimes I make up rules as the games progress attempting to bait them to get angry or have a negative reaction. If they do react poorly, the team runs a sprint. The object is to teach them to have a neutral reaction to a bad call. We want them to understand they cannot control the officials; they can only control their reaction to a call. By controlling their reaction, they are in effect creating a positive situation. If a bad call were made during a tough game and a player became angry at that call, she is no longer prepared for the next play. A poor reaction also gives an advantage to opponents because they feel the momentum shift to their favor. We want to get through the call and focus on the task at hand.

We also lift lighter during recovery week so we decrease sets and repeititons in the weight room. The purpose of this is to allow our players a full week where their bodies are still active yet recovering from three weeks of intense workouts. This allows the muscles and the brain enough rest so they are prepared for the increases in our workouts for the final two weeks of conditioning.

Every player who has survived a preseason always looks forward to recovery week. They talk about it as if it were a gift from heaven. It is the one week of preseason where having fun and laughing is synonomous with conditioning. Yet, next week we must go back to the tougher stuff making players mentally ready for the long journey which awaits them.

Starry Night On UC's Campus

On Friday night, September 19th, UC hosted a huge fundraising event to benefit the restoration of Eddie King Gymnasium and to build a new performance athletic arena. For a mere $250, a person could dance beneath the stars on the Kanawha River, indulge in an incredible feast of a vast array of delicious entrees, mingle with the stars of the evening, Jennifer Garner and her husband Ben Affleck, and share stories and laughter with friends of the University of Charleston.

Coach Fitzgerald and I were assigned the task of "guarding" Jennifer during her photo ops with the VIPs of the evening. I supposed the thought was that since we were once basketball players that we could handle defending Jennifer or perhaps it was just our incredible biceps which landed us the role. Nevertheless, we were in charge of making certain that the individuals who were fortunate enough to get their photos taken with Jennifer did not linger too long. Imagine the VIPs who were going through the line: Mayor Danny Jones, Senator Rockefeller, and other high profile individuals from the area. It is a good thing that none of them knew who the heck we were as we had to put our basketball skills to the test deflecting, intercepting, and sometimes boxing out to secure Jennifer's well being.

We were close enough to Jennifer to hear every word spoken. I was amazed at her ability to make others feel special. No matter who went through the line, she listened, interacted with them, and acted as if she would rather be right there than any other place in the world. I wished that my players could have been there to watch her graciousness, to learn how to interact on a personal basis, and to witness the power of giving back to community.

While the coaching staff was busy placing our lives on the line for Jennifer, our players were in the main tent on the campus lawn. They were responsible for getting the 1,000 or so individuals who attended to their assigned places and clearing tables. I am assuming they didn't spill drinks on any tuxedos or expensive evening gowns. At least, I have yet to hear about it.

The event was magnificent. Beneath the stars on a gorgeous West Virginia evening with a cool breeze blowing across the Kanawha, it could not have been a better night. It was the type of evening that left the team and coaches hopeful that we will one day play in a beautiful new arena packed with 2,000 fans screaming for us--the stars of the night.

Preseason Training

Most coaches will inform you the purpose of their preseason is to get their team in better physical condition so they are stronger and faster. While we do want our players to gain strength and speed, our real purpose of preseason is to gain mental toughness. We want to expand the thoughts of our players on their perceived limitations.

Athletes tend to have a belief system which tells them what they can and cannot do. Perhaps they heard their limitations from other teammates or previous coaches. Some where along their growth route, they bought into their weaknesses. Once they began to believe that they could not do something, then the thought became stronger and stronger until it became a truth. Some intelligent individual once said, "Beliefs are just thoughts which are repeated over and over again until they become the truth."

It is our job as coaches to help them learn new beliefs. This is not an easy task. It means demanding of them more than they think they can give. Growth means stretching and aching and hurting a little bit. People by habit want to avoid pain and yet here we are trying to make them believe pain is a positive thing.

Our preseason is designed to force the athletes to see themselves in a different light. If they can do something they didn't believe was possible, then they increase their athletic abilities as well as their mental abilities. Once they alter their belief systems, the world can open up to them.

I learned from a master teacher a few years ago, a coach by the name of Jayson Gee, that players will give exactly what you demand of them. I watched him push his team to levels I simply didn't think were possible. He was so demanding in practice that I privately feared one of his players would pass out and never wake up. Not only did this never occur, but his teams played far beyond their talent levels. They won many games not because they were the better athletes but because they believed that they could win.

We lost games last year because we were mentally weak. This season we are determined to make certain the players develop mental toughness. It starts with a tough preseason and a mindset which believes in conquering challenges rather than cowering from them.

Every day we want to push them to a place they fear--a place they feel threatened and insecure. When they can wallow in that place, rest in it, feel at peace in it, then we are getting them to where they need to be.

In all this push for a better mental state, we also have to be aware of overtraining them. It is a delicate balance--one that is tough to measure at times. I believe this season we are finding that balance. The Golden Eagles are responding and growing, getting better with each conditioning practice. If they just get a little bit better day by day, then they will have the mental toughness they need to battle opponents in competition.

How About Those Returning Sophomores!!!!

It is amazing the difference a year can make in a player. Last season we had a freshmen class of five who received valuable minutes of playing time. There were moments when they showed flashes of brilliance along with other bumbling, fumbling, almost tumbling moments of looking like true freshmen.

It was a tough year for them as most freshmen years are. They arrived fresh from high school where they were all the stars from their teams to a place where they were challenged. When they thought they were fast, somebody was faster. When they thought they could make a move that always worked for them in high school, they found their shot blocked. When they thought they would steal the ball from an opponent, they were left with in the dust.

Then they had to learn the Golden Eagle system which is not the most simple system in the world of basketball. It requires thinking, concentration, movement with a reason. They learned they couldn't watch the ball on offense but had to watch their defender and react to what she did. They had to constantly be aware of spacing and teammates, watching and moving in conjunction with their movements. Defensively, they had to learn positioning and team defense rather than just worrying about their player.

I've had freshmen tell me that they thought they were playing basketball in high school only to discover once they hit our court that they knew nothing about the sport. It was a traumatic experience for our young, yet they survived.

A year later as they walk into the gym, they are a different group. Lindsey Kentner no longer has the frigid stare which plagued her last season. She is confident, aware of her talents, and assured that she can shoot the ball with the best of them. Ali Tobias, once timid with her limited speed, has learned that intelligence can best the fastest player. She has turned to deception and her brain to play with the speedsters. Tarenna Dixon, a 5'11" athletic player, has learned the powerful lesson of getting beyond her mistakes. Last year when she made a mistake, her body language drooped and her play diminished. She has been determined this season to become stronger mentally. Moneka Slaughter, a powerful post, has come out of her shell. In 2007-08, she hid inside her strong, muscular physique as if she were afraid to be an athlete. Now she stands tall, shoulders back, and head held high. Our 114 pound small forward, Tiana Beatty, has worked out all summer in the weight room putting on 15 pounds of pure muscle. With her biceps bulging, she runs the floor as quick as last year but with more power behind each stride.

The sophomores arrived this fall stronger, wiser, and more confident. It can be seen in the way they carry themselves and in the way they meet each challenge during our preseason conditioning. As I watch them in individual practices, I am amazed at how much they improved during the summer and I am assured their moments of brilliance are no longer going to be just mere moments but minutes which stretch throughout the game.

Oh, I am so looking forward to watching them in action!

Creating Mental Focus at Practices

When I was an athlete, I was often frustrated with the lack of intensity and focus in practices. I hated going to a practice knowing exactly what we were going to do because we had done the same drills the day before and the day before that and the week before that. Starting practice with the internal emotion of boredom never really got my heart or mind into being the best I could be.

It is from my experiences as a player that I have developed the way the Golden Eagles practice. We want players to be both physically and mentally engaged from the moment they step on the court until the second practice has been completed. In order to do this, practices vary from day to day. In fact, no two practices are ever the same. While we do repeat some drills in order to create muscle memory, we try to keep the repetition fresh by changing the drill slightly or making a new emphasis to the drill. We believe that no two games are exactly the same so players should be adaptable and flexible to the nuances of every game.

One of the challenges freshmen face in our system is the concentration they must bring to practice. They become emotionally and mentally fatigued long before their legs give out. Most of the freshmen are not used to engaging their brains as much as their bodies. We make certain they focus on each drill by creating a consequence for not performing the drill correctly. We might make an emphasis in a drill such as boxing out with contact. If players fail to box out with contact, then all players must do a frozen push-up while I pontificate on how critical it is to make contact on a rebound. On such an occasion, players might discover I can be quite long-winded. We might also make the drill a perfection drill which means the player must perform the drill correctly before she can get out of the drill. For example, if we are working on denying from the wing, players must see both ball and player, have the correct technique, and force her offensive player to catch the ball away from the basket. She gets the opportunity to continue doing this drill until she shows perfection.

To engage our players, we move quickly from drill to drill. We explain the drill, teach the correct technique, then we want our players to execute properly while playing at game speed. It is important our players learn to practice while focusing at game speed. While this is tough for newcomers, it becomes easier as players have to think less and allow their body to simply react to what it has practiced a thousand times before.

We always have minimal lines for drills so no person is standing in a long line waiting for a turn. In fact, we only want our players resting in line for 30 to 90 seconds. If they are standing longer than that, we know their minds wander and they lose their focus. They have to keep mentally present when rest periods are short.

To be a Golden Eagle, athletes have to learn to focus and bring both their minds and their bodies to practice. By learning to focus and become mentally tough, they are elevating their games to a higher level.

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A review of the seniors

The UC Golden Eagles will be returning three seniors to our squad this year. For those who have coached or who understand the game, it is critical to have seniors who buy into the philosophy of our program and who are willing to lead by example. Buying into the Eagle philosophy means that they understand we are about heart, passion, commitment, and hard work. It means they thrive when we push them and they want to be the best they can be. It means they must bring their best every day regardless of what the events of that day brought to them. It means they are dedicated to being a winner from the inside out.

It is not easy being a senior because the stakes are higher. This is the end of a long journey of basketball. Most of them will never play competitively again. They have no more do-overs. No more years to get it right. It is now or never.

Luckily, our seniors get it or at least they are trying very hard to be the leaders we need them to be. They all want to be good. They all want to return the program back to the days when we were nationally ranked and expected to be one of the best in the conference.

Veronica Carman enters her fourth year determined to lead vocally and through her actions. She has worked hard throughout her three years to become better in all skills. Her outside shot, jumper, and ball handling skills have all improved, but what has been most outstanding in her improvements is her ability to speak up to her teammates. When she came here, she spoke through a whisper. She now projects her voice in such a manner that all teammates can clearly hear her no matter where they are in the gym.

Jennifer DeMeyer has made incredible advancements from her freshmen year when she barely accumulated 20 minutes of playing time to her junior year when she became a starter. During the past three years she has developed from a player who didn't have any inside moves to a post who has a counter move when her first move is shut down. When she is confident in her play, it is impossible to stop her.

Jihan Williams is a player who has the ability to dominate. She can shoot outside, penetrate, or post up in the low block. Although she didn't show her prowess in the paint last season, she is determined to give it her best this year. During the 2008 spring workouts, she showed what she could do by simply blowing by teammates in every competitive drill the team did. Even when her team was down by three points, she increased her play so her team could win. If she keeps her mind in the positive belief system of what she can do, she will own the paint.

As a coaching staff, we are thrilled at how hard our seniors are working at pointing our team toward the Eagle Way. To them I say, "IHHOAGE!"

UC Family Nite and Championship Croquet

On Sunday evenings, the Golden Eagles have decided to get together to share time outside of basketball. I personally love the concept of having the team play board games or share other activities beyond the court and classroom,. It is a way to enjoy companionship without the intense competition. In order to become a great team, we need to learn to laugh with and love one another.

This past Sunday the team joined me at my house for a picnic and a round of championship croquet. I only gave them two rules before arriving at my home: (1) This was mandatory fun so come with a happy face; and (2) To remember that Coach Winn always wins so be prepared to lose.

The team leaders arrived an hour early to assist in the preparation of the food. Jihan Williams and Katy Arick cut up vegetables for a veggie plate and also prepared the salads. Veronica "Kika" Carman sliced the watermelon while Jen DeMeyer prepared the tables and chairs for the outdoor picnic. Both Veronica and Jen assisted with cooking the chicken and burgers.

It is our belief that if players want to be leaders they must first learn how to serve. A leader must be willing to do all the little things which make a team great. Instead of sitting at the top ordering their teammates around, they should be the ones rolling up their sleeves doing the "dirty" work. The leaders should always be the first to arrive and the last to leave.

As I watched the team sitting together at the picnic tables, laughing and kidding one another, I felt as if we truly were a family. I believe this was a good start to the Golden Eagles becoming more than a basketball team.

With our stomachs full and the food put away, it was time to crown the croquet champion. As we gave them instructions on how to play, I once again had to remind them of rule #2: Coach Winn always wins.

Once we began play, it was immediately obvious that rule #2 was not going to be broken. While the Golden Eagles can play basketball, I'm not certain many of them have branched out to other sports. I did not know there were so many ways to swing a mallet.

We played buddy croquet which meant that buddies took turns hitting the ball. As the winners were crowned, it was Coach Fitzgerald and me who stood on the podium to accept our gold medals. Granted, Coach Fitzgerald and I had constructed the course which looked more like minature putt-putt/croquet with obstacles rather than wickets. Naturally, we had to practice each obstacle during construction to make certain that the ball would go through or over our homemade wickets. So we might have received a little bit of an advantage over the rest of the players, but quite frankly after watching their skills with a club and a ball, I knew there were reasons why they were not on the golf, softball, or tennis teams. However, I am thankful that the skills they own are the right ones for the Golden Eagle basketball team.