LEADERSHIP

There was a great quote a couple days ago in a NY Times article about New Jersey Nets young point guard Devin Harris. In the article, New Jersey Nets head coach Lawrence Frank discusses the reasons why it is difficult for some players to take on a leadership role within the team. The following quote was taken from the article.

“Being a leader is very, very hard for this reason: you have to be the same guy virtually every single day,” Nets Coach Lawrence Frank said. “When things are not going well for the team, when things aren’t going well for you, when there’s a heap of criticism upon you. So leading is tough. It’s hard, but he’s up for the challenge."

While coaches are accountable for most of the leadership responsibilities, successful teams have to have a player step into a leadership role within the team as well. Leaders need to have the ability to motivate the people/players they are leading. This can be done openly with good communication skills or through leading by example. When your leader or leaders are your hardest workers there is a better chance that others will follow. Regardless of the circumstances, leaders always have to remain poised and positive.

Do you remember Jason McElwain???

How can we forget the story of Jason McElwain, the autistic team manager from Greece Athena High School, who inspired us all with this story a few years back.

Regardless of the score and of how hard the defense was playing, Jason took advantage of the one opportunity he had to fulfill his dream of playing basketball. What Jason accomplished during this game was truly remarkable. He was 7-13 from the field and 6-10 from the three point line. More importantly, aside from making a few baskets, he has inspired other people to be ready when they get their shot!

Moments like these are what makes sports so special!

THE LAST LECTURE - Randy Pausch

What would you talk about during your Last Lecture? Randy Pausch's last lecture is inspirational and puts life in perspective. His speech includes several great quotes and exerpts that we can all learn from.

Quotes from Lecture:
"If you don't acheive your dreams you can still learn alot from trying"

"Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want"

When your doing a bad job and nobody points it out to you that's when they have given up on you" Pausch said this in reference to his middle school football coach who used to ride him every practice for 2 hours

"The Brick walls in our way are there for a reason, they let us prove how badly we want things"

To Achieve Dreams:
1) Work and play well with others: This means tell the truth, apologize and be patient with people/they will eventually show you their good side.

2) Show Gratitude
3)Don't Whine or Complain/Spend time working harder. Jackie Robinson had it in his contract that he could not complain if people spit on him

"Lead your life the right way and the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you"

This is a must see video. This is the 10 minute version of the Last Lecture he gave at Carnegie Mellon. The full length hour video can also be seen on you tube. I recommend that everyone watch it at some point!

2007-08 Anderson University Men's Basketball Dunk Highlights

2007-08 Trojans Men's Basketball Highlights. Please be reminded that this video is from last year. The information contained in this video is not current.

Official Visits

The Recruiting process is in full swing across the country. College coaches are making school visits and home visits in order to persuade their top tier recruits to sign on the dotted line. The high school basketball players are taking official visits to figure out what school or program they will fit in the best with. These official visits can be the deciding factor between choosing University X, Y or Z.

After reading several articles over the past week about some of the top high school basketball prospects in the country (Kenny Boynton and Derrick Favors) taking official visits, I was reminded of an article that I recently read about campus visits. What does it take for a program to host a successful official visit?

Mandy Brettigen, the resident sports psychologist at Selling for Coaches, listed six important tips for a successful campus visit in an article on Dan Tudor's website. They are:

1. The Atmosphere: Are You Thriving or Surviving? In other words, when your prospect gets on to campus, are they going to see a program that is hanging on by a thread in terms of the team interpersonal relationships? Or, is it a healthy, thriving team that has great team chemistry. If the answer is anything other than "thriving", you need to begin building team relationships and doing things internally that will improve the atmosphere.

2. Get the Team's Insights. Many coaches use their team for hosting and interacting with a recruit, but then don't use the team to help assess how well the recruit will mesh with the existing team. Listening to your team in this way can help you avoid a bad mix of personalities that can damage team chemistry. Remember...your team's opinion counts when it comes to adding the right new members to the team.

3. Going on the Campus Tour. How long will the tour be? Who will host it? What's the schedule going to look like? Coach, you need to plan out a campus visit in excrutiating detail. Leave nothing to chance. Since it all comes down to a great visit, you need to do whatever you can to ensure that they have a great experience. And it all starts with a master plan that helps manage the experience your prospect has on campus.

4. Be Careful About the Class They Attend. Part of a campus visit usually includes having your prospect attend a class at your college. Here's an important tip: Make sure they go to a class that is discussion based, rather than lecture based. Why? Because discussion based classes are usually full of lively talk and opinion, which is something that they don't usually see in their high school. Most come away with a positive impression with that kind of class, instead of sitting in something that looks and feels just like high school.

5. Let Other Athletes Know You Have a Visitor! One thing that we discuss in our recruiting guides for coaches is how important it is to have your team, and the other athletes in the department, treat your prospect well. That's the number one way they determine whether they get a good "feel" about the college. Here's a suggestion: E-mail your athletes, and others in the department, that you will have a recruit on campus and if they see them with you or their host, that they should come up and say hello. Sounds simple, i know, but the schools that do it report a really great response from their on-campus visits.

6. Make Sure There's Time to Just Hang Out. When we interview student-athletes as a part of our On-Campus Workshops, they tell us that sometimes they feel really over-scheduled during trips to visit a campus. Meeting after meeting, activity after activity...sometimes recruits report that they feel exhausted by the end, and still haven't had a chance to get a "feel" for the campus they are visiting. What should you do? Focus more time on just relaxing. Let them hang out in your host's room. Let them play games, watch movies, and just be a kid. That's what they want.

Dunk Contest

Jonathan Mattox, Stephen Cobb, Nick Trull and Jarret Johnson participated in the first Dunk Contest of the 2008-09 Season.

You decide the winner!!! Cast your vote by leaving a comment for who you want to win!

Trojans Give Back to Local Community

Today, the Anderson Trojans men's basketball program gave back to the Anderson community. With shovels, pitch forks, work gloves and paint rollers in hand, players, managers and coaches took part in the restoration of a small local playground by moving mulch and painting a basketball court. For several of the players this was their first experience using a shovel or a paint brush.

What I was most pleased with was how well our guys worked together to accomplish the task at hand. There was no complaining or whining from anyone. The players didn't just work; they worked hard. They were not worried about getting dirt or paint on their shoes, shorts or shirts. By the time we were done guys were covered in paint. Nice t-shirts, comfortable basketball shorts and nice shoes were ruined. Sophomore Trey Britton was not the slightest bit worried about his black Nike shoes (that probably cost $75 or more) turning green because of the paint. Who knows if he or the other painters will be able to get the green paint off of their gear. All they know is that it was for a great cause.

As college basketball players and coaches, we sometimes forget how lucky we are to be able to play and teach a game we love. It is important to take some time away from the daily grind of being students, players and coaches to give back where and when help is needed. It is unfortunate that we live in a society where people are judged on whether or not they win or lose the game. I can assure you that our program won today. Not because we had more points, but because other young kids and families will benefit from our hard work!!!

Athletes and coaches are in a great position to give back to those in need. We need to continue to help others who are less fortunate than us. NBA athletes, who sometimes get criticized for making so much money, do a wonderful job of giving back to their local communities. Listed below you will find a good article about
Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villaneuva.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/hispanicheritage2008/news/story?id=3589196

JOB WELL DONE GUYS!!!

Q and A with Kevis Cornwell

Sophomore Kevis Cornwell took some time out to visit with Coach Brookman for a preseason Q and A interview. Kevis is a 6'3 170 lb guard. As a freshman, he averaged 8.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game. Kevis also led the Trojans with 42 steals on the season. Cornwell came to Anderson University after a stellar prep career at York Comprehensive High School.

As a senior at York Comprehensive High School playing for head coach Kendall McCarter, Cornwell averaged 17.8 points, 6.0 rebounds and over 4 steals per game. For his efforts, Kevis was voted all-conference, all-region and was one of only two players from his area to be voted to the AAAA all-state team. As a junior, Cornwell also averaged over 17 points per game and was selected to the all-region team.

Q and A with….KEVIS CORNWELL

What game are you most looking forward to this year and why?
Belmont Abbey and Barton because they both beat us twice and pretty bad last year

What do you enjoy doing when you are not playing basketball or studying?
Hanging out with my teammates

What do you like most about attending Anderson University?
The friendly atmosphere

What is your best memory or moment from your Freshman year?
When we upset Queens on senior night. At the time, Queens was the 8th ranked team in the region

What is your prediction for the 2008-09 season?
Regular season Conference Champs

What has been the biggest difference between high school and college basketball?
The speed and strength of the players

What teammate do you look forward to playing with the most this season and why?
It is a tie between Brandon Young and Jarret Johnson. Both are very exciting to watch play and play with

Who on this year’s team will surprise people and why?
Jarret Johnson with his ability to dunk on people

What would you most like people to know about you?
That under all these bulging muscles I have a big heart and I am a good person

What is the best thing about playing college basketball?
I love the atmosphere, the fans and the competitiveness. I love that every game is a big game. There are no cupcake games in college.

2008-09 Anderson University Trojans

3 Trey Britton F 6-7 200 So. Alpharetta, Ga.
4 Nick Trull G 6-2 190 Fr. Charlotte, N.C
5 Kevis Cornwell G 6-2 170 So. York, SC
12 Jamelle Lowery G 5-11 170 Jr. Stanley, N.C.
15 Brandon Young G 6-2 165 So. Belmont, N.C.
22 Jonathan Mattox G 6-2 180 Jr. Watkinsville, Ga.
23 Jarret Johnson G 6-3 190 So. Greensboro, N.C.
32 Quinton Baines C 6-6 225 So. Enoree, S.C.
33 Stoney Hill F 6-5 185 Jr. Fayetteville, Ga.
40 Joshua Beale F 6-8 190 Jr. Flowery Branch, Ga.
44 Stephen Cobb F 6-5 195 So. Raleigh, N.C.
50 Taylor Shugart C 6-8 225 Fr. Rock Hill, S.C