30 DAYS TO A CHAMPIONSHIP: REFLECTING ON MY MENTORS

Coach Jim Boone: I am a firm believer in surrounding yourself with key mentors, leaders who know and care about you, but care about you enough to be honest, even when it hurts.

Do you want to be around those who tell you what you want to hear, or those who tell you what you need to hear?

I have been blessed through my years of Coaching to be associated with several great mentors, that have not only influenced my life, but they have impacted my life – I would like to briefly share with you, my relationship with three of these key people, that have been extremely supportive, honest, and have helped shape me into the coach and person that I am today.

And yes, they have played an important role during my 30 Days to a Championship – not only through their advice in taking this position, but as we have spoken almost daily in building the foundation of our program.

I first met Allen Osborne, currently the head boy’s basketball coach at Poca High School, in Poca West Virginia, as my Junior High School Basketball Coach. It was his first coaching job out of college, and my first time playing for the school team. I was immediately captivated by his passion for the game, his intensity of teaching, and his authoritative approach to practice. Much of my philosophy of teaching, coaching, and how we play were born through this relationship, back in the eighth grade, at Winfield Junior High School. It was also then, that I knew without a doubt, I wanted to be a basketball coach!

And, it wasn’t always about the good days, it was probably the tough days that played the greatest role in shaping me into the person and coach that I am today.

I vividly remember Coach Osborne teaching our team a simple continuity offense, yours truly was not concentrating on the lesson, and thus when asked to execute the offense, I failed miserably. When asked to do it again, I again failed. Coach then used a couple of key teaching points to emphasize upon me the absolute importance in concentrating to learn at all times – to stay focused. Needless to say, this was a great lesson, and one that I have demanded from our own players.

Coach Gerald Oliver served in a consulting role for us at Tusculum College through my last four years as the Pioneer head coach. His input, his friendship, and his undying loyalty were and continue to be so important to me and our program’s growth. Coach’s wealth of experience, 27 years as a pro coach, 9 in the NBA, along with working for such notable coaches in the college game as Hank Raymonds, Rick Majerus, and Ray Mears, is unparalleled. Coach Oliver is one of the best teachers I have ever been around, his attention to detail and his ability to simplify the game are remarkable. It has been Coach Oliver's advice to utilize the new NCAA rule regarding Team Practice to concentrate on the big picture, and then to put in the parts as our team understands how we want to play and practice.

And finally, Bob Starkey – one of my very best friends and confidants in life. I have never made an important decision, whether it be regarding my family, my career, or our program that I have not consulted first with Bob. We both played for Coach Osborne, on that 8th grade team at Winfield JHS, and have become life-long friends. Through the years we have played on teams together, we have coached together (Bob was actually my first ever hire as an associate head coach in the women’s program at West Virginia State University), and we try and meet every year to talk basketball or to visit and study another program together. For example, the time when Bob and I spent a marathon week traveling to visit with three outstanding coaches. We started in Nashville with Coach Don Meyer at Lipscomb, to study how to run a championship program, headed to Evansville, Indiana and spent a day with Jim Crews on defensive drills and the development of his motion offense, and ended our trip in Birmingham, Alabama to talk motion offense with Jimmy Tillette. But, there was nothing better than sitting with Bob in his parents’ home, the hallway to be exact, with Coach Osborne’s old 8 millimeter film projector as 9th graders (Bob on one side and I on the other of the projector using the darkness and the wall of the hallway to view the film), watching Coach Knight’s first Motion Offense video, with the click, click, click of the film running through the projector – awesome!

Without the impact that all three of these great people have made upon my life, I would simply not be the person I am today. I am so appreciative for all that they have done, and the honesty and support they have always provided. Having mentors is important to all of us, and more important than when you are building your own program as are doing here at West Virginia Wesleyan!