Over the last month, I have had the opportunity to attend five division 1 college practices. One message that has been consistent with all five coaching staffs is players struggle doing the simple things at an elite level. Jump stops, pivots, catching the ball without traveling, simple decision-making reads, passing, and shot selection were all topics brought up and talked about. It is a great message to young players to never get bored working on skills we think are basic.

Anthony Grant: Dayton

“Impact the game when they take away what you are great at and provide value when your shot is not falling.”

Mark Pope: Kentucky

“Practice and train like you are playing your toughest competition.”

Josh Schertz: St. Louis

Combination/marriage of both:

Development of skills: Shooting, Finishing, Ball Handling, Footwork etc.

Application of skills: DHO and Pick and Roll Reads, Shot Selection, Spacing Principles, etc.

John Groce: Akron

Purpose on offense: why am I doing the things I do on offense? The purpose of anything that we do on offense is to get high quality shots.

Rob Senderoff: Kent State

Great scoring guards have the ability to score with limited dribbles (3 or less) and in a certain amount of time (5 seconds or less)

-Coach Drew Slone