Small Victories Part II

Small victories come in many forms. They can be process or product; on the court or in the classroom; team or individual. We were relentless in identifying and recognizing guys for doing things the right way. We never wanted to just BS our way through the process. The only rule was that it had to be real.

A huge regret from this past season is that I didn’t write down the small victories as the occurred. Big mistake to trust to my fading memory! After all, the biggest joy in coaching is seeing kids be successful. 

This post is going to be a review of some of the highlights from the 2017-18 season. 

Junior forward has nearly perfect attendance. Zero absences and three measly tardies. At East High this is a really big deal!

Senior guard has a 3.2 GPA with many Advanced Placement and/or college level classes despite working a full time job!

Freshman forward had 14 discipline referrals from the start of the school year up to the start of basketball practice. Since then he has had zero referrals!

The same student-athlete has cut his absences 50% and tardies 75%!

23 guys in the East High basketball program have zero discipline referrals! An additional 6 have only 1 minor infractions!

All of our seniors (four players and one student coach) have solid plans for after high school!

Some moments in which I was so proud to be their coach included:

*all of the days we had guest speakers (we had many) and our guys were dialed in with great eye contact and appropriate body language! 

*the days many players stuck around on a Wednesday and cleaned up the cafeteria so the food service workers wouldn’t get stuck with the daunting task!

*The day we rocked it out at the State Capitol! Getting a standing ovation from the House of Representatives. Bringing a bit of the East Side to rural legislators.

*Walking back to the school from the Capitol with four freshmen who could not stop talking about the people they had met and the weighty conversations they had. Bravo!

*We eliminated most of the cussing which was prevalent early on. We (coach included) dealt with it with lots of push ups and really cleaned up our act!

*the countless times I’d see our guys around school smiling, having fun, and being friends. Freshmen through seniors all got along without cliques or a pecking order!

*the impressive attendance at voluntary Saturday morning skills workouts and especially the hotly contested free throw contest which came down to two freshmen guards!

*The countless times we received positive feedback from faculty, staff, and administration on the way our guys were conducting themselves around school;

*the way our kids overcame a season full of adversity and really battled in our last several games.

On a personal level, I have been so pleased with how the guys have treated me since announcing my retirement. It means a lot to me when they call me coach, ask me how I’m doing, or simply shake my hand. This shows what good, high character guys they are!