Coach is on Fire

The Coach Coach Pilipovich is the Head Men’s Basketball coach at the Air Force Academy. Coach Pilipovich has nearly thirty years of coaching experience and he has been with the Air Force Academy for seven years three of which have been as the head coach. In his first full season as head coach Coach Pilipovich lead the team to an 18- 14 record. Before coaching at the Air Force Academy Coach Pilipovich was an assistant at the University of Michigan. Coach Pilipovich is excited for the season. A Quote “Take care of what you can control and what you can control is today, so let’s win today” Adversity Three years ago Coach Pilipovich was promoted to head coach in the middle of the season. The team was at a crossroads. The first game Coach Pilipovich had as head coach the team lost bringing their losing streak to nine straight games. The next game out the team went down early. Coach called a time out and let the players no that the game was not over. The team came back and won the game.

The Coach Missouri native, Coach Elliot is the Head Women’s Basketball at Loyola Marymount. She enters her third year as the head coach. In her first season as head coach, Coach Elliot led the team to a home record of 9-5. Prior to coming to Loyola Marymount Coach Elliot put together a 127- 34 as the head coach of the Division II San Diego Tritons. Coach Elliot’s team this year is a young team, with just four upperclassman. She is excited for the upcoming season. A Quote “It’s the hard that makes it great” –A League of Their Own “Fatigue makes cowards of us all” –Vince Lombardi Adversity Every team every year faces adversity. Adversity might come in the form of a tough loss. For Coach Elliot’s team adversity came in the form of losing key players at critical moments. The way to overcome is having each player dig a bit deeper. Adversity can bring out the best in players. Drill Tips Coach Elliot’s favorite drill is called a three on two pl

The Coach Coach Kelly Graves is the Head Women’s Basketball coach at the University of Oregon. Prior to moving to the University of Oregon Coach Graves served as the head coach at Gonzaga for 13 years. During his time at Gonzaga coach Graves took the team to the West Coast Conference Championship game nine times. The team also appeared in the NCAA Tournament six of the past seven years. He left Gonzaga as the winningest coach in school history. Coach Graves is excited for the upcoming season at the University of Oregon. A Quote “A vision so powerful it has to become a reality” Adversity Teams face adversity everyday. One instance of adversity that stands out to Coach Graves is when he was with Saint Mary’s. Pepperdine came to play at St. Mary’s and with eight seconds left St. Mary’s had the lead. Pepperdine scored and St. Mary’s lost. Coach got perspective when his son came and hugged him and asked who won the game. It’s not about how many times you fall it&r

The Coach Coach Phil Martelli is the Head Men’s Basketball coach at St. Joseph’s University. He is entering his thirtieth year at St. Joe’s. The first ten years at St. Joe’s were spent as an assistant coach and his last twenty years were spent as the head coach. Coach Martelli is the all time winningest coach at St. Joe’s. He has accumulated a record of 362-247. In the past 19 Coach Martelli’s have at least twenty victories. Coach Martelli also has more conference wins in the Atlantic 10 than any other active coach. He is excited for the upcoming season. A Quote “Every winning outcome is not a win and every losing outcome is not a loss” Adversity With twenty years of head coaching experience Coach Martelli has seen a great deal of on the court adversity. His belief is that regardless of the outcome of after the game a coach’s behavior should be generally the same. The point is that wins should not be over celebrated just like losses should not be dwelt

The Coach Coach Josh Pastner is in his sixth season as the Head Men’s Basketball coach at the University of Memphis. Coach Pastner has been involved in Division I basketball first as a player than a coach for the past 18 years. Coach Pastner has been a part of 450 wins and has a win percentage of .750. As the head coach at Memphis Coach Pastner is the seventh coach to reach over 130 through his first 5 seasons. He has been named the Conference USA Coach of the Year by collegeinsider.com. He is excited for the up coming season. A Quote “The more you are grateful for the more you will have to be grateful for.” Adversity Adversity must be put in context, though the team doesn’t face life or death situations they still deal with challenging situations. Coming off of a tough loss can be a challenge. The team must stay focused. A loss can be an opportunity to focus more. Drill Tips Coach Pastner tries to make everything within the practice competitive. Coach’s top drill is the shel

The Coach Coach Randy Rahe is in his ninth season as the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Weber State University. He has worked as a coach for 30 years. Coach Rahe started his career as a high school coach in eastern Colorado. He made his Division I coaching debut as an assistant at Colorado State University where he coached for 7 years. In his time at Weber State Coach Rahe has lead the team to four Big Sky Conference Championships and seven post season tournaments. He is excited for the upcoming season. A Quote “Embrace our culture and you will love our results” Adversity Four years ago the team faced adversity when top player Damian Lillard broke his foot. The injury ended his season. That year another starter also injured his shoulder and was not able to play up to his potential. That year the team was favored to win the conference. However, the injuries came a week before conference play began. The first few weeks of conference player were a struggle, but the team began to click. Ultim

The Coach Las Vegas native, Coach Murphy is the Head Men’s Basketball at Northern Arizona University. Coach Murphy got his start at the University of Arizona as a student manger. After eight years at the University of Arizona Coach Murphy had worked his way up to Director of Basketball operations. From there he joined the front office of the Denver Nuggets. After working with the Nuggets Coach Murphy accepted a position as an assistant coach at the University of Memphis. He is now in his third season at Northern Arizona University. A Quote “If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride and never quit you will be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards.” – Bear Bryant Adversity Last year the team had many new players. The team had to learn how to play together. The team played in a thanksgiving tournament. The first two games the team was defeated badly. Though they could have easily thrown in the towel the team did not. In the third game the team f

The Coach Coach Rob Senderoff is the Head Men’s Basketball coach at Kent State University. Through his first three seasons at Kent State Coach Senderoff boasts two twenty plus win seasons as well as two post-season appearances. Coach Senderoff’s career began as a student assistant at the University at Albany. Coach Senderoff has his bachelor’s degree from the University at Albany and a masters of sports studies from Miami. He looks forward to the upcoming season. A Quote “Today I will do what others won’t so that tomorrow I may do what others can’t” Adversity Every year a team goes through adversity. Two years ago Kent State lost a buzzer beater to Northern Illinois. The game dropped the team to 11-10 overall. The team used the next day to watch game film. Two of the seniors rallied the team. Rather than finger pointing the seniors chose to blame themselves and treated the loss a challenge and a chance to improve their game play. Drill Tips The drill Coach Sender

The Coach Coach O’Hanlon is the Head Men’s Basketball coach for the Lafayette Leopards. With over 20 seasons of coaching experience Coach O’Hanlon has put together an impressive resume including three conference titles and two NCAA tournament appearances. As a player Coach O’Hanlon played at Villanova. He took his first collegiate coaching position as an assistant at Penn. Coach is excited for the upcoming season. A Quote “Leave it better than you found it” Adversity Last season the team faced adversity when they lost two starting players. One of the players was averaging 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The team struggled while the players were out. Coach O’Hanlon credits the team’s character as the reason they were able to persevere.   Drill Tips Every team runs a shell drill. Coach O’Hanlon’s team does a drill called survivor. In the drill the team must get three stops in row before they can stop. The drill promotes the competitive sp

The Coach Coach Lansing is the Head Men’s Basketball coach at Indiana State University. During his time at Indiana State he has compiled a record of 79- 55 with a home record of 27-9. In each of his first four seasons Coach Lansing’s team has had a victory over a team ranked in the top 25. As a player Coach Lansing went to the NCAA Division II tournament in both his junior and senior years. Coach Lansing is excited to enter his fifth season. A Quote “If you only work on the days that you feel good you aren’t going to get much done in life” – Jerry West Adversity After a bad loss coach took the team back to watch film. He asked each player what they thought their role was and Coach Lansing told them what he thought. The experience provided the team with both the opportunity to bond and to learn. The team used that moment to grow and move forward as a stronger team. Drill Tips Coach Lansing has the team run a shell defense drill at almost every practice. During the seaso

The Coach Coach Kowalcyzk is entering his fifth season as the Head Men’s Basketball coach at the University of Toledo. Prior to being at the University of Toledo Coach Kowalcyzk was the head coach for the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay. Last season at the University of Toledo the team was able to put together an impressive regular season record winning a regular season championship. Coach Kowalcyzk is excited for this years team which boasts 8 returning players. A Quote “Blame nobody, expect nothing, do something” Adversity When Coach Kowalcyzk first arrived at the University of Toledo the team was in the midst of being penalized for their academic percentage rating. The first three years were difficult as a result of the penalties, but the team never made excuses. In year one the team won only 4 games, the next year they won 19, and by year three the team won the MAC West Division. Drill Tips Coach Kowalcyzk runs what he calls a 76 76 drill. The scoreboard says 76 76 and the first

The Coach Long Island native, Coach James Jones is the Head Men’s Basketball coach at Yale University. As a player Coach Jones played colligate at the University at Albany. Coach Jones took over the program in 1999. He boasts an impressive conference record with 117 wins over Ivy League opponents. The team has placed within the top four in the conference for the past 14 years. Coach is excited for this year’s veteran team. A Quote “Success is a choice” Adversity The team faced on the court adversity when playing Princeton. Yale lost their starting point guard with three minutes remaining in the game. The game went into overtime. The team lacked a back up point guard. To overcome the loss of the starter the team used a variety of players to run the point. Drill Tips The team emphasizes rebounding. To hone this skill Coach Jones runs a drill in many practices. The drill splits the players into three teams. You put a rebound in then you are out and your teammate comes in to take over

The Coach Coach Ezell, a Tennessee native, is now the Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Eastern Tennessee State University. As a player Coach Ezell played for the University of Alabama. Coach Ezell began her coaching career at the age of 23 working for the University of Nebraska. Prior to accepting the position at Eastern Tennessee State University Coach Ezell was the head coach at Belmont University. In her final season there she put together a record of 18-14. Coach Ezell is extremely excited about her current players and the upcoming season. A Quote “Leaders are learners” Adversity Adversity is something you can find daily. But, real adversity is found in life. Coach Ezell experienced real adversity as a young coach. One of the young student athletes the team was recruiting passed away. Watching the team rally and trying to honor her memory was truly inspiring. People don’t always remember wins and losses but they do you remember how you treat them while they are going through adv

  The Coach Coach Driscoll, a Pittsburgh native, is the head Men’s Basketball coach at the University of North Florida. He started his coaching career at his high school alma mater at a young age. He determined that coaching was what he wanted to do as a profession so he decided to go back to school and pursue a degree. He is now in his sixth year at University of North Florida. Coach is excited for the upcoming season; he feels his team is a good mix of upper and lower classman, and a great rapport both on and off the court. A Quote “Success is not final and failure is not fatal.” -Churchill Adversity Coach Driscoll faced a deeply personal adverse situation. When confronted with adversity you have two options; prepare and rise to the occasion or wilt and wither. Two years ago coach was faced with a situation that no parent wants to hear. His son was suffer, coach could tell. Finally, Coach Driscoll was able to convince his son to write down what was wrong. When he read the paper he

The Coach Coach Cross is Head Men’s Basketball coach UT Arlington. He enters his 9th season at as head coach for his alumna mater this year. Of the top five most successful teams in school history Coach Cross has coached three of them. Coach Cross has compiled a record of 137- 113 while at the helm for the Mavs making him the only coach in school history to boast a winning record. Coach Cross is extremely optimistic and excited for this season. A Quote “I am more afraid of an army of 100 sheep led by a lion than an army of 100 lions led by a sheep” - Talleyrand Adversity One of the biggest times the team faced adversity was in the 2011- 2012 season. Coach himself was on the hot seat. The team started off well then went on a bit of a losing streak dropping to 4-5. After one particularly bad loss everyone seemed to be down on the team. After a big win over Kent State the team was able to turn the season around. They went on a winning streak and finished the season strong. Drill Tips Coach

The Coach Coach Barefoot is in her second year as Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Old Dominion. Coach Barefoot played basketball collegiately at Christopher Newport. With 15 years of head coaching experience Coach Barefoot has put together an impressive resume. She has put together twelve winning seasons and has been named the National Coach of the Year twice. Coach Barefoot is excited for this year’s team and the season being just around the corner. A Quote “if you have passion with purpose you are unstoppable” Adversity When Coach Barefoot took over as head coach the team was very young. That year the team traveled to Tennessee to take on the Lady Volunteers. It was a real learning experience for the young players. Coach took several timeouts throughout the game to remind the players that this was a great learning experience and anytime you are learning you should not feel defeated. That experience helped them finish the conference strong. Drill Tips Coach Barefoot runs a drill

                                                     The Coach Coach Aaron Roussell is the Head Women’s Basketball at Bucknell University. Prior to taking this position at Bucknell Coach Roussell served as the Head Women’s Basketball coach at the University of Chicago. Coach Roussell did not leave college expecting to get into coaching. In fact he intended to law school. Despite this Coach Roussell has been extremely successful. At the University of Chicago Coach Roussell amassed an impressive record of 161- 50. His record was both the most wins and highest winning percentage in school history. Coach Roussell is excited for October and the start of basketball season. A Quote “Hard work pays off” Adversity Sometimes as a coach it’s hard to prepare yourself form real life adversity. A few weeks ago when of the Bucknell players suffered the loss o

The Coach Coach Tungate, a’93 grad of Oakland University, is now the Head Women’s Basketball coach there. Coach has over 20 years of coaching experience with 11 years of experience at the college level. This year Oakland has a young team with 6 freshman one junior college transfer. The team has more depth than a year ago and great senior leadership. A Quote “The world is full of willing people; some are willing to work and some are willing to let them” Robert Frost Adversity A year ago the team was riddled injuries. At one point during the season the team was practicing with only six players. To illustrate to the team what had to happen in order for them to succeed coach created a special drill. He had the entire team pull a sheet tot. One player was told to sit in the middle. The rule of the drill was clear don’t let the player in the middle touch the ground. Coach then began pulling players away until only five players remained holding the sheet. As the players were pulled

  The Coach Coach Skerry is in his fourth year as the head men’s basketball coach at Towson University. In his first season, the team was 1 and 31. The team has undergone an impressive transformation with a 25 and 11 last year. Last season was the best in school history as a Division I program. As a player Coach Skerry was the all time assists leader at Tufts University. Coach Skerry looks forward to another exciting season as the Tigers head coach. A Quote “Honor the process.” Adversity In his first year as head coach, Coach Skerry inherited an eighteen game losing streak. In an effort to motivate the team, Coach Skerry showed the team footage from the famous Thrilla and Manila fight. The movie gave the players the inspiration they needed to break the losing streak. Drill Tips Coach Skerry runs the shell drill at every practice. The drill is designed to help player develop skills in different defensive sets. It pits four on four in a defensive drill. With the defensive team having

The Coach Coach Joanne P. McCallie (or Coach P as she is known around campus) is the head Women’s Basketball coach at Duke University. Coach P is now in her seventh year as the Blue Devil’s head coach. She has been voted the ACC Coach of the Year in 2010, 2012, and 2013. During her time at Duke the team has amassed a record of 174-35. The team has also appeared in the Elite Eight for the past four NCAA Tournaments. The team has also taken the ACC regular season title for the past four years. Coach P looks forward to another exciting season. A Quote “Choice not Chance” Adversity Coach P’s team has suffered the loss of not one but two All American point guards who suffered serious injuries. In life you can always count on the unexpected. Adversity can be viewed as an opportunity. As a result of the injuries new players had the chance to step up and fill the void. How a team responds to adversity is the difference between good and great teams. Drill Tips . Any drill that involv