The following note I found on my phone tonight and with a little updating I’ve shared it below. Connor Miller (Sophomore Guard, Samford University) and Paul Jesperson (Sophomore Guard, University of Virginia) are the two players referred to.
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Have patience and believe you are doing it the right way.
I would get so frustrated with Connor and Paul. I just wanted them to strive for perfection and only accept doing their best. The first workout I ever did with Connor he came to tears — 5 years later he fully understood and thanked me. For teaching him how to fight through the fatigue, the struggle and rely on your vision when things get tough.
We all learned that you must have patience and can’t expect instant results.
Coaches, don’t assume players are lazy. Reach them before you teach them. I thought Paul was lazy and didn’t think he worked hard — I questioned his drive.
In reality it was my fault because I didn’t take them time to get to know him, find out what his goals really were and figure out he wanted to be great. I needed to challenge him — not criticize.
They learned that repetition is not a punishment. One of the first practices I made Paul sweep the ball through about 30 times in a row, trying to get him to be quicker and player lower with each rep. The truth is great players love this — mediocre players hate it. I thought Paul was going to hate it and be pissed at me. At the end he said “that was awesome”. I knew then he wanted to be pushed and challenged.