The Difference Makers

I have had an absolute blast watching the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament this month.

What is so striking is that in this sport, there is such an incredible interplay of athletic talent, strategy, motivation, and execution. In a game where momentum builds like a tidal wave, I believe that of all the sports I know, the role of a basketball coach is perhaps the most prominent with regard to potential impact on a team’s game-day performance.

As I have followed the men’s and women’s tournaments, three coaches who have led their teams to Final Fours have stood out in my mind. Here is what I learned about their recipe for success for their respective teams:

University of South Carolina: Daily Intensity

Dawn Staley has been a fighter her whole career. Growing up in north Philly, she battled for court time and respect against the neighborhood boys. As a college player at UVA and as a 6 time All-Star in the WNBA, she was famous for her tenacity.

One of the ways Coach Staley cultivates the intensity for her team is in the practice arena. She takes a cold, clinical approach to challenge players outside their comfort zone each day. She has also created a practice squad of elite non-players –? men who tryout for this coveted, behind the scenes role – to challenge her team daily and be a support net at games. By pushing her team to bring their best each day, her team is ready for battle when gamedays arrive. The Gamecocks are so fierce that their style of play has brought criticism from other coaches; in my eyes, it is because the former untouchables – namely UConn – recognize that South Carolina is now the team to beat!

On Monday in the Elite Eight, after a typical South Carolina contest where they looked beatable in the first half, they poured it on in the second half to defeat Maryland and punch their ticket to their third straight Final Four in pursuit of a 2nd straight NCAA Championship. Perhaps more importantly, Coach Staley’s graduates continue to praise her for her mentorship in helping them become strong, independent women, ready to tackle life’s challenges beyond college and basketball.

University of Miami: Adapt and Thrive

Until this week, Jim Larranaga was somewhat of a coaching footnote. Back in 2006, he took #11 seed George Mason, a commuter school and basketball also-ran, to a Final Four appearance. Shortly after, he left George Mason for the University of Miami.

Larranaga quietly built this program into a powerhouse. However, it has not been an easy journey. Earlier in the 2010s as they were starting to gain momentum, they lost steam with an FBI investigation on players being paid. This set recruiting back for two years, and then, with the introduction of the transfer portal and Name, Image, and Likeness in amateur athletics, the landscape was changing once again.

Most coaches rail against change. Coach Larranaga not only accepts it, but thrives on it. He was one of the first to embrace these new structures that enhance options and flexibility for players, and as a result, was able to create positive relationships where other coaches lost months struggling to fight the system.

Last year, Miami came up short in the Elite Eight, and on Sunday, trailing Texas by 13 in the second half, it looked as though they were headed for a similar fate. In the locker room, he leveraged last year’s lesson in their loss to Kansas; Miami led at the half, but Kansas came out strong and blew them out in the second half. He told his team, “We’re behind. They came out and took control of the game, and that’s what we need to do.” With ten minutes to go, Miami took control of the boards and with sharp shooting and great defense, they punched their ticket to the Final Four.

Florida Atlantic University: Team First

The most unlikely entrant into the Final Four is Florida Atlantic University. With only one prior tournament appearance in 2002 and a first round exit, their basketball history is a short read. However, since Coach Dusty May has arrived, the narrative has changed.

Prior to Coach May’s arrival, FAU’s last winning season was in 2010. Since Coach May started his tenure in 2018, FAU has posted five consecutive winning seasons. What’s the secret? Team play.

Off the court, Coach May says he has never seen a team that enjoys one another’s company so much. They eat together, they hang out together, and simply put, have a lot of fun together. On the court, their rapport is also evident. With this historic season that no one (other than Coach May and the FAU team) saw coming with a 35-3 record and a trip to the Final Four as a #9 seed, it is a team that is unselfish with the basketball, and without a superstar. In the tournament, they have three different scoring leaders, assist leaders, and rebounding leaders. Only once has a player posted more than 17 points in game. When asked “How did you do it?” Alijah Martin shared the formula: “Leadership, Support, Sacrifice, no ego, no pride. We just try to stay positive and be great teammates.”

Coach May’s words also signal why this team has been so successful: “When the season is over, it will feel nice and we can look back and say ‘Wow, that was awesome,’” said May. “If you start thinking about those things, and being consumed with anything other than your day-to-day preparation, that’s when someone sneaks up on you and we refuse to let our guard down.” While I love this quote, I love it even more with added context: Coach May said this BEFORE the start of the NCAA tournament. By cultivating this culture of humility and hard work, his team has been able to stay in the moment and bring its “A game” to each performance.

With what I have seen and learned about these NCAA coaches, it has invigorated my belief in the potential impact of a great coach. As a final thought, I offer this: whether you lead an NCAA program or you are simply a member of a team doing your best every day, each of us have that ability to be that mentor and coach for those around us – in and out of work. After what I have learned this week, I am emboldened by the belief that the ripple effect of a great coach can truly create a massive wave!

#coaching #mentoring #impact #highperformance #ncaa #basketball #leadership #forgeyourpath