You are spot on here! GREAT article - every student athlete, parent and administrator should read it.

We had pretty high expectations for our players, both on and off the floor. I was one of the Deans ( Special Ed. Department ) in the building along with being the Boy’s Varsity basketball coach, so I always knew a lot more than some of them would have liked me to know. I think that helped them to think twice about how they were acting and what they were doing.

We always told our players that when they were out in the community, at a party etc. to act like their parents or one of the coaches were going to walk in at any moment. We wanted our players to be leaders in the school…. many times I would ask the Varsity players to be “big brothers” to the Freshman… helped the younger kids to get along and be comfortable with the BIG school along with showing them HOW things are done in our program and the school.

They knew that academics ALWAYS came before basketball…. their school work was much more important than any game. Their education is what will make them successful after they are finished with school I think that extracurricular’s are also an important part of the educational experience - it makes for a “whole” individual.

Our school used to have a talent show ( and of course it was right in the middle of our season ) My philosophy was to let my players be involved with as many other extracurricular’s as possible……… hopefully not too many interruptions during the season. The most memorable was a few of my players participating in a dance routine…. they came down to the practice floor dressed in PINK TU TUS…… I don’t have to tell you that everyone had a good laugh about that one.

We always had some accelerated students on our teams along with some Special Ed. kids, so that was a good mixture and they got along fine. The accelerated kids were good role models for everyone… they never wasted any time… they would study